l'appel du vide
by imnotcreativeenough
Summary: The Winx Club, rewritten for more mature audiences, since most of the fandom from the original show is in their mid twenties by now. I'm changing things liberally here and there to make the story more interesting for adults and less kitschy. Currently in its beta stages. Formally "Winx Club, Rewritten"
1. Metamorphosis

_Chapter 1: Metamorphosis_

* * *

Bloom hated tourists.

Without fail, any time a tourist walked through the front door of Crosby's, they got sat in her section. And without fail, every single _damn _time, they walked away without tipping. She couldn't exactly blame the tourists; they weren't from the United States, they didn't understand tipping culture. But she _could _blame Tilly for seating every obvious tourist in her section, even when they should go to another waitress. After five hours of work, she only made $17.50. Three out of her six tables didn't tip. She didn't even make enough today to warrant calling a taxi home, so she was left walking home in the rain, in her hideous gingham shirt and suspenders. At least this job let her wear jeans.

She couldn't understand why anyone would even want to visit Chicago in the first place. Sure it was the Windy City, but there was _nothing _here, except for tall buildings filled with people who didn't want to be here either. The parking is expensive, the food is expensive, the apartments were expensive, she was just waiting for a day for someone to come on the news and say they have a new tax on breathing air. When Bloom moved to Chicago after high school, she couldn't even afford to bring her car; it was an extra $100 on her rent just for a damn parking spot. Even if she did have her car, the traffic is so bad she wouldn't want to drive it anyway.

Four months she'd lived in the city, and she hadn't had a single break. She auditioned for every ballet company in the city, applied at every dance school to teach. Nothing. And with the hours she had to work at Crosby's just to make rent, she hadn't been to a single class in a month. Day by day she could feel her muscles atrophying, and her flexibility was worse than it had been in years

She shivered and clutched her arms closer to her body. It was hot and sunny this morning, but the sun had gone down hours ago, taking all the heat with it. The drizzle that had started during her shift didn't help. Usually she didn't mind the rain, but her shirt was thin and she forgot her jacket when she left in a rush that morning. Trying to ignore the drizzle, she focused on the sickly green patterns a neon sign was making in a puddle at the end of the alley. She could hear the rowdy customers at a bar with its back door open; this late at night, they were either drunk or well on their way.

She jumped as two girls ran past her. Barefoot and running down an alley with their silver strappy heels in their hands. Classy.

Briefly, Bloom considered that taking this route back to her apartment might not have been the best idea, and told herself that in the future, if she walked home this late, she'd use the sidewalks. At least she lived in a safer area of the city; there were some real slums in Chicago, but she thought her apartment felt safe. It wasn't too far from work; only four blocks, and if she cut through the alleys, it barely took ten minutes. That being said, she was growing more and more disturbed with the shadows and the fire escapes. Sidewalks had bright lights illuminating the streets...now she was walking in the dark with impenetrable walls of brick on either side. Only way out was forward towards the light at the end of the alley.

She picked up her pace, sliding the pepper spray from her keychain into her palm with her finger on the depressor. Her feet ached from hours of work.

The light at the end of the alley was suddenly blocked by a large man. No, too large to be a person. A car? Was that a car?

It started barreling towards her. It roared. What the hell _was _it?

Screaming, she turned and ran down the opposite end of the alley. She put her arm up high and left a trail of pepper spray behind her, hoping that it would dissipate with the rain and get in that _thing's _eyes.

"Help! Help me!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. These were apartments above her...couldn't anyone hear her? Is this what Kitty Genovese felt like?

It was gaining on her. Why was it chasing her? There was no way this thing was a person. Did something escape the zoo?

She felt an iron grip around the arm holding her pepper spray. Her screams echoed around the alley but no one opened a window, no one turned on a light. The pepper spray rattled on the ground, rolled down the aggregate concrete towards the storm drain. Was she going to die?

Her fists met its skin. It felt like old, dry leather, and had no give to it. She must have been drugged. What had she drank?

Her arm burned like fire, she was bleeding. It cut her.

Her whole body filled with heat. Her vision grew tunneled. The tips of her fingers tingled, and suddenly the entire alley was filled with bold light. The creature flew back away from her, knocking her to the ground in the process. She cried out as she landed wrong on her ankle. The light was gone as quick as it came, as did the wind. The creature was getting up. It walked towards her. She was paralyzed in pain and fear, rooted to the ground. She closed her eyes, crossed her arms in front of her face, and waited for the inevitable.

It didn't come.

She opened her eyes when she *heard something large hitting the ground, feeling the impact from where she sat. A group of four men stood over the creature, one with a strange, blue gun in his hand, another with two sets of giant rings that resembled handcuffs. She stared at the weapon, shifting her eyes when she heard him speak.

"Just a mild tranquilizer. He'll only be out long enough to get him on the ship."

"Sky," the blond haired one putting shackles over the creature looked over at his partner, speaking in a warning tone. "What happened to what Saladine said?"

"They said no Earth witnesses. Clearly, she's not from Earth."

Bloom looked between the group of men. They wore the same clothes, but didn't look like soldiers. They really didn't look much older than her; college aged at most. Should she correct him and say she was, indeed, from Earth? Where else would she be from? She must have been drugged. She felt so tired.

The brunette one-Sky-crouched down before her. He pulled a kit from his belt, and asked if he could see her arm. She stared, apprehensively.

"It's okay," he reassured. "It's a first aid kit. We need to clean your arm before it gets infected, troll venom can be poisonous."

"Did you just say troll?" she asked, finally speaking. Her voice didn't sound like her own, it seemed far away and foreign.

Sky rifled through his kit before looking over his shoulder. "Hey Timmy, do you have any antivenom? I think I forgot to restock after last time."

The one with the glasses walked over to them, leaving the other two to wrap up the...troll? "I told you to double check your medpack. It should always be stocked before a mission," he chided. She could almost laugh as Sky turned back to roll his eyes at her.

"You have it or what?"

"Obviously, I stocked my medpack," he handed a tiny glass bottle with a stopper down to his friend, before looking over at Bloom. "You don't know what trolls are?"

"Well yeah, I've heard of trolls, are you telling me that's what that _thing_ is?" she pointed at the creature the blond had finished tying up.

"You _are _from Earth, aren't you?" the black haired one spoke up with surprising hostility. He and the blond were fiddling with rolling the creature onto a blue stretcher that she didn't remember them having.

"Uh, yeah, aren't you?" she countered.

"Sky," Black Hair growled. "We _need _to speak with Saladine. She's a witness."

"How many Earthlings do you know that can summon up an energy field? She knocked the thing clear off his feet; something's going on here."

"All the more reason to call Saladine and figure this out," Timmy reasoned.

"What's your name?" Sky asked, grabbing her wrist again. He pulled out the dropper out of the bottle, aiming it over her cut.

"Bloom," she winced as the liquid made contact.

"Sorry, should've warned you...it stings a little."

Timmy crouched down beside Sky. "The antivenom will keep you from getting sick, but you should still take a shower at home and make sure you rinse it well. Where is home?"

Now she _knew _she heard warning bells. Did _these _guys drug her? Why did they want to know where she lived? "Not far," she said vaguely.

"Can one of us walk you home?"

"No," she said immediately. "I'm fine."

She stood up on her own, ignoring the burning pain in her ankle.

"We gotta get this guy back to the school. Time to say goodbye," Black Hair quipped. He didn't look at Bloom, speaking only to his partners. "What should we do with her?"

"Excuse me?" she asked, patience snapping and matching his hostility.

Sky gave her an apologetic look. "It's not an emergency, so we shouldn't wake up Saladine."

"_Not _an emergency? You gave us away to an Earthling!"

"It can _wait. _And there's clearly more going on here. Bloom," he turned to her, "would it be okay if one of us met you here tomorrow to talk? About what happened tonight?"

She stared at each of them in turn. The black haired one glared daggers at her. His blond partner seemed more preoccupied with strapping the troll down to the board than really looking over at her. Timmy and Sky seemed friendly, at least. She _did _want to hear more about what happened here...if she met them in the day time, how dangerous could it be?

"Okay. I can meet you back here tomorrow. But on that sidewalk," she pointed towards the streetlight, "not in the alley."

"Then we'll meet you outside the alley tomorrow, one o'clock. Does that sound okay?"

"_Sky," _hissed Black Hair. "Let it _go."_

He seemed to ignore his partner, so Bloom did the same. _I can always not show tomorrow, _she reasoned with herself. "Okay. One o'clock. Tomorrow."

* * *

_It's been a minute, whoops_

_To current readers: I've edited and am reuploading the chapters as well as updating the story. I didn't realize how many typos there were; I have quite a severe case of dyslexia, and I rely pretty heavily on my spell/grammar check which apparently has been telling me a lie this whole time. Thanks Google Docs_

_So a) I got a better word processor, lol and b) I invite and encourage you lovely readers to please point out typos and grammatical errors if you find them when reading. Because holy hell did I find a lot. Kinda embarrassing lol. I do spell check these, believe it or not..._

_To new readers: Congratulations, you don't have to read the really heavily typo'd version! _

_(seriously i found like five a page)_


	2. A World Altered

_Chapter 2: A World Altered _

* * *

When she awoke, shivering under the blankets yet covered in sweat, she was sure she'd been dreaming.

Trolls aren't real.

Why'd they ask if she was from Earth?

Usually, she only had these dreams when she took sleeping pills. But she hadn't taken them in months. It _had_ to have been a dream, but it was so vivid, so ungodly real that she ripped the covers to stare at her arm...and sure enough, there was a large tear along her skin that she definitely didn't get from Crosby's.

Was she drugged? Had she been attacked? Should she get a rape kid? What if she'd been given LSD...maybe she'd been hallucinating. She must have been. Why did those boys help her? Did she imagine that too? Bloom had never done drugs before...she wouldn't know the feeling if she'd been on them. How could she be sure?

She went around in circles for hours, lying in bed and watching the clock draw closer to 1:00 pm.

She shouldn't go. She imagined the whole thing. Drug induced hallucinations.

But if she did go, and they weren't there, she would have more confirmation she'd been hallucinating.

If she went and they were there...she might get some answers.

It was a bright day out, plenty of witnesses. She was probably safe. Though, she thought that last night, and now she was staring at a deep lash through her arm.

The meeting place that they'd decided on was on the walk to the hospital. If she got out of bed, took a shower, made herself some breakfast, and left...she'd probably be outside by 1:00 pm.

_You're going to the hospital anyway…_

Her arm burned when she blasted it with the shower head. Her hair felt like a rats nest, significantly worse than normal. Her legs were still streaked with dirt from the ground. Watching dried blood and dirt flow into the drain made her feel more rooted to the ground, more real, less crazy...she could just stay in the shower and not leave.

Her feet found their way out the door nonetheless. If nothing else, she needed to go to the hospital. Her ankle was twitching with each step, and she should probably have it looked at. Yet another reason she wouldn't be dancing this week.

She paused outside the alley to browse the window of a skateboard shop. She didn't skate. But on this morning, at 12:55, she found herself strangely fascinated.

She heard Sky call her name at 12:58.

Seeing Sky and his blond friend walk towards her in jeans and normal shirts made her realize how strange their all black attire was the night before. There were no duty belts. There were no weapons. They looked, by all counts, normal college aged guys. If anyone had been watching them, it would seem like a few friends from a nearby college were catching up on a sunny Monday morning in between classes.

"Hey," she called out uncertainly, tucking her hair behind her ears. It had taken her forever to comb her curls out.

"Hello," the blond one smiled.

"Bloom, this guy here is Brandon. I don't think you two got to be introduced last night," Sky said cordially.

So the blond was named Brandon. He stuck out his hand, still smiling, and Bloom returned the strangely formal gesture. Who shakes hands?

"You must have a lot of questions from last night," Brandon said.

She nodded slowly, not saying anything. She wasn't sure what to say.

"Is there a good place for us to talk? Someplace we can sit down?"

She pondered Brandon's question for a minute...she was a little self conscious discussing the magical troll that attacked her last night in broad daylight, particularly if they were about to tell her they were police cadets, the troll was a wannabe rapist, and she was on bath salts. So, she led the boys down the block to the off-chain coffee house she knew was geared towards people taking lunch meetings and had a quiet atmosphere. Some coffee would do her good, anyway; she was already getting a headache.

With Sky waiting for their drinks, Bloom and Brandon settled in a booth in the back, a small plate of macarons between them that he'd insisted on purchasing. He plucked one off the plate, studying it quizzically, pulling it apart and putting it back together. Bloom couldn't help but smile at the scientific approach he'd taken to studying the sandwich cookie.

"Have you never had a macaron before?"

"I thought the lady said it was called a macaroon?" he responded, dragging out the _oo_ sound at the end.

"Nope. Lots of people call these macaroons," she mimicked his pronunciation, "but that's the coconut biscuit that guy's eating. These are macarons."

"Huh, I didn't know that."

"Four years of high school French and that's all I know."

He laughed politely, just as Sky set their coffee down and sat down next to Brandon. She stared at them both as she sipped her beverage that was still too hot, waiting for one of them to speak. It seemed as though they had the same idea, leaving the table in awkward silence.

"So...what exactly happened last night?" she asked, not wanting to give away her wild recollection of events.

"What do you remember?"

"Not much," she lied, hoping they'd take the bait. She wasn't willing to offer up any more information than she had to, but at the same time, she wanted answers. "How did I cut my arm?"

"We didn't see, you were bleeding when we found you. It looked like the troll had dragged a nail across your skin; they can get pretty sharp," Sky dropped the word troll _much _too casually for her liking.

"So it was a troll," she said, half to herself.

"Our friends didn't want us to come back here, they didn't want us to talk to you," Brandon said. "Technically, our orders were to avoid all sightings, and call our commander with any deviation. We should have reported you, and he would have cleared your memory."

"So why didn't you?" she asked, slowly growing used to the fact that she had no idea what was going on.

"You're a magical being."

Hazelnut latte spluttered onto her chin as she involuntarily laughed at the statement. "Funny," she said sarcastically.

"You conjured up an energy field that knocked a full grown troll right off his feet. That's no easy feat. How do you think you managed that?"

"I'm on drugs."

"You're not on drugs."

_Pretty sure I'm on drugs._

"Then you're on drugs."

"No one is on drugs Bloom," Sky smiled politely, but she could see she was wearing down his patience.

"There's no such thing as magic."

"Explain last night."

"Drugs."

"We should have brought Stella," Brandon rubbed his face, exasperated.

The three returned to a heavy, uncomfortable silence.

"Whose Stella?" she finally asked.

The two glanced at each other, before Sky started to speak. "Stella is a friend of ours. She can do what you did last night. She's also a lot better at this stuff than we are."

"What exactly _did_ I do last night?" If they wanted to tell her absurd stories, she might as well see what they come up with.

It was Brandon who spoke this time. "We saw the troll grab you when we entered the alley. You produced an energy field to push him off of you; it lit up the whole alley. That's when we knew you weren't an Earthling. Where we're from, lots of people can produce magic like you. On Earth, they can't."

"Can you do magic tricks?"

"They're not _magic tricks_, and no, neither of us have powers. They're rare in guys. Much more common in girls."

They went back and forth like this while they finished their coffees. For every ludacris question she managed to ask, every detail of their story seemed inherently logical. From the military academy that had sent them to find the runaway troll as their first solo mission, to the magical fairies who studied spells and learned how to fly, like their friend Stella. She even nodded her head along when they suggested that she was a fairy, even if it was further confirmation that at least one person at this table had their daily dose of Vitamin K that morning.

They seemed to realize her apprehension towards them, and asked if they could meet again the following day, saying they'd bring Stella and that she could show Bloom that they were being honest. They had to meet later in the day to make it work-she had the breakfast shift-but she agreed nonetheless. Something about the two seemed to draw her in; a small part of her wanted to believe them, an even smaller part possibly _did_. And if they were offering her proof...who was she to turn it down? She had completely lost her sanity with the whole situation, what else could she possibly lose.

They agreed to meet at a park this time around. She hadn't bothered changing out of her work shirt before she waited, only removing the suspenders to avoid unnecessary humiliation. She dodged Tilly's questions about her arm throughout the shift, telling customers that she'd been in a car accident and asking them about their meal to distract them from too many questions. The gash was raised, swollen, and itched like crazy. Likely infected. Maybe she should ask if their "medpack" had an antibiotic for it. Had Sky remembered to stock his medpack this time? She was half tempted to ask.

This time around, she found them; the boys were sitting on a bench. Bloom had never referred to another girl as a _bombshell_ before, but that's the only way she could describe the blonde that sat in between them. Long blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, tiny waist, she was intimidatingly and annoyingly beautiful.

While Bloom questioned how on Earth a single person became that attractive and how unfair it was to her 5'2'' gingerness, the girl jumped out of her seat and raced over towards her, the boys trailing behind. "Bloom! It's so nice to meet you!"

"Hi!" she said, trying-and failing-to match her enthusiasm. "You're Stella, right?"

"Princess Stella of Solaria," she said proudly.

_And I'm Princess Bloom, of Hyde Park._ "Nice to meet you."

If Stella picked up on her derision, she said nothing. Instead she suggested they find someplace private, so she could show Bloom what a fairy can do. She put up some protest at going anywhere alone with the trio, but eventually conceded, telling herself that they were still in the general open. While they walked towards the hiking trails Stella was chatty; neither of the boys could get a word in edgewise as she went on about Alfea, the college she was starting in a week. She described classes on potion, on flying, and how she hated the royal etiquette and decorum but she did enjoy the balls they had with Red Fountain.

_I am in a bad Harry Potter fanfiction._

The three bypassed the actual trail and instead headed into the woods themselves. Bloom had ventured this way before while walking her neighbors dog, something she routinely did for extra money. If they walked far enough through the woods, the trees opened up into a clearing and they had enough space to move around. Hopefully there weren't any teenagers getting drunk there today, as there often was.

Thankfully the clearing was empty, giving them plenty of privacy. "Alrighty," Stella said cheerfully. "You're having some trouble buying all this magic business?"

She nodded, not even trying to match the girl's enthusiasm.

"Well, then, let me show you!"

Without any more fanfare, Stella waved both of her hands together, as though creating a sphere, then pulled her fingertips apart, and before her eyes Bloom saw an orb of bright light appear between her hands. Staring at it felt like staring at a dim light bulb...the longer she looked, the darker anything surrounding the orb became. Stella's dress and the tops of her tan legs were illuminated ever so slightly. Small shadows were cast behind her feet, and behind Bloom, who stood in front of her. If she looked hard enough, she almost thought she could see glittering, but maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her. What was that her mother always said about staring at the sun?

All of the sudden, Stella parted her hands and the light dissipated into the air without a trace.

No one spoke for a long while. The three were silent, allowing her to better process the information presented to her...she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried, wrap her mind around what she'd just seen. Magic wasn't real? This was a trick, some crazy trick they were paying on her. That could have been a lightbulb Stella slid into her pockets when she waved her hands.

"Bloom?" Brandon asked, concerned.

"Why are you showing me this?" she stepped back, suddenly very cold and very shaky. "Why did you bring me here?"

Sky took her arm, leading her over to the bench. "Because you're one of us. We saw it that night in the alley."

"I can _feel_ it now, Bloom," Stella moved to sit beside her. "You are a magical being."

"I'm a _waitress_. There's _no_ such thing as magic. Why are you doing this?"

Stella looked over at the boys, murmuring to just give them a second. The two left the clearing, leaving the two alone. They didn't speak for a long while, leaving Bloom to calm herself, if only a little bit. Finally she told the blonde girl, "I don't believe you."

"I can take you to Alfea," she said. "We can go see the castle. You'll see that I'm being honest."

"And how would you do that?"

Without a word, Stella stepped up off the bench, standing before Bloom. Taking a deep breath, she straightened out her arms and her back, blading her palms forward, and as she exhaled she was suddenly bathed in a glittering light that was so brilliant Bloom's eyes blinked instinctively. Gone almost as soon as it came, Stella no longer stood before her in a green dress and heels. Her body was draped in a glittering orange material, her back exposed, revealing iridescent blue wings that resembled a butterfly.

"I can transport us there."

Bloom jumped off of the bench.

She had wings.

Bloom was standing before a girl who had _wings_ and she found herself utterly speechless for the umpteenth time since she had decided to take the damn shortcut back to her apartment. Was walking an extra ten minutes really that difficult? No, not in the slightest. All she had to do was walk an extra ten minutes and none of this would be happening. There would be no Brandon, Sky, or Stella, she would have walked back to her dingy apartment, warmed up some leftovers, fell asleep on her futon, and enjoyed a mundane day off. Then she'd go back to work and the cycle would continue. Eat, sleep, work.

Standing there, staring at Stella, and pondering where her life was, she was beginning to feel inclined to go with her to this beautiful white castle in the middle of a forest. To get away from the city, the loud noises and all the traffic, away from Tilly and Crosby's and the mess she created for herself when she moved out to Chicago in a half assed attempt at being an artist. Her meager savings from working through highschool were drying up and she was going to start missing rent payments soon. And if she returned to Gardenia now, having to look her parents in the eye and tell them she failed, having to see Andy around town in the summer or worse, Mitsi...she couldn't stomach the humiliation.

How much more proof could she possibly need? Hell, the damn girl grew wings...how much more could she reasonably expect her to do?

"Bloom?" Stella finally asked, still waiting for an answer.

"I'll do it. I want to see Alfea."


	3. l'appel du vide

_Chapter 3: l'appel du vide_

* * *

Practically squealing with delight, Stella quickly called the boys back over, who Bloom realized had only been out of sight and not out of earshot. She informed them in a rush that Bloom wanted to see Alfea, and that it was time to head back to Magix.

"Hang on Stella," Brandon said. "She doesn't have a room. It'll be dark by the time we get there, and you can't transport all three of us."

Stella visibly pouted, seeming defeated. She perked up a moment later, saying that just getting Bloom there and back would be a _breeze, _just enough to show her the castle and prove to her it was real. This time it was Sky who shot her down, saying she had to save her Winx for transporting them back to Magix, and that they should be going soon anyway.

"It's still technically year break, they won't be doing bed checks...why don't we just stay here?" Stella asked.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have enough room for all three of you in my apartment," Bloom said awkwardly. It was a studio apartment with a _futon, _not even a bed.

"So we sleep on the floor, big deal! I have a spell for that."

"Stella, not that I don't trust your spell casting," Brandon said sweetly, "but if we have any slip ups here, we can't exactly go to Saladine and have him wipe memories. If he finds out we came to Earth like this, with no orders-"

"_Relax, _Brandon, it's the first physical spell we learned in junior school. Practiced it at every sleepover since. I'm just making some beds."

The boys looked unconvinced, but Bloom desperately wanted to see an actual spell, mostly because she wanted to see if the girl would actually do it.

She led them back to her apartment, thankful it was clean and hoping she wouldn't regret bringing the three strangers into her home. Almost as soon as they walked in the door she walked over to her kitchen counter to light the Bath and Body Works candle her mom had bought her as a moving gift; she'd been saving it for when she _desperately _needed her apartment to smell good, and now would be the time. Because when they aren't talked about trolls hunting her down, or Bloom's sudden powers, or the magical fairy college, this felt _normal. _Like she could pretend she had some friends over after work. And when things felt normal, she could stop and notice that the boys in her apartment were very, very good looking, like their female counterpart. Must be a Magix thing.

The only furniture in her entire studio apartment was a futon, a coffee table, and a ballet barre. Considering the rest of it was completely bare, it almost felt big. It was smaller than some people's bedrooms, but the effect was there nonetheless. Stella walked out in the middle of her apartment, waving her hands at the ground in a deliberate pattern and repeating a phrase in a language Bloom didn't recognize. A small cube appeared on the ground, stretching as she brought her hands up, growing long and raising to about knee height with one end against her wall. Bloom watched as Stella repeated this three more times, calling another command across the quad of mattresses, and blankets and pillows materialized and descended down from hovering inches above the beds.

Bloom could only stare in awe.

"See! I _told _you it was easy!" Stella boasted, taking a seat on a middle bed.

"Why four, Stel?" Brandon asked.

She flopped back onto the mattress, huffing. "Well, it's not fair for Bloom to have to sleep on that _thing-" _her toe pointed towards the futon-"while we live it up on our down mattresses. She should get one too."

For a moment she was mildly offended at the blonde insulting her futon, then remembered the number of times _she _insulted her own futon and let it go.

With a bare kitchen and hungry guests, she ordered a pizza from the pizzeria down the block, wincing slightly at the cost. She figured it was only fair that while the three were visiting Chicago, she fed them some quality deep dish. The small, family run business didn't have delivery, but Brandon offered to help her carry back the two boxes so for once she didn't mind.

The two left Stella and Sky alone in her apartment, strolling along the sidewalks just as the sun began to set. Determined to talk about something that didn't make her head spin, she racked her mind for something to say. What do two people from two different worlds even have to talk about? The weather? Spaceship maintenance? Quittiach?

"So...how long have you lived in the city?" Brandon asked, saving her from her ridiculous thoughts.

"A few months. Since I graduated from high school."

"I've never lived in a city like this, how do you like it?"

"Honestly," Bloom glanced over, narrowly dodging a biker as they flew past, "I miss quieter life. I grew up in a smaller town, I'm not so used to how loud this place is."

"Why'd you come here then?"

She didn't even know the answer to that. She'd been asked it plenty of times, most often by her parents, and she'd come to realize how ridiculous her answer was. "I wanted an adventure," she admitted. "I guess it sounded good at the time."

"Looks like you found your adventure."

Had she? When she decided to come to Chicago, she told her mother that she felt called to the city. It sounded lame when she thought about it now, but it was true; when she thought about what she wanted to do after high school, the only thing that really brought her joy was her trips to Chicago throughout her teens years, and the thought of returning. Lacking any sort of direction on _what _she wanted to do, she thought it was enough to know that she wanted to do it _here. _Her parents had always taught her that she grew the most as a person when she did the things that scared her, the things that pushed her out of the nest and outside of her comfort zone. So uprooting her life and coming to the city seemed like the way to do it.

"Looks like I have."

Unsure of how to continue, the two were for the most part silent throughout the remainder of their task. And when they returned to Bloom's apartment, it seemed that Stella and Sky-though, mostly Stella-did majority of the talking. Bloom would ask a question here and there, and occasionally Brandon would interject and add to the conversation, but they both remained observers throughout dinner and preparing for bed. The conversation hovered in Bloom's mind, feeling unfinished and rushed. She wanted to keep talking. Later into the night, Bloom snuck out onto the fire escape to get some fresh air once her guests were in bed. She wasn't out there long before Brandon was crawling out the window, just as she had done.

"Can't sleep?" she asked him while he settled in across from her.

"I was going to ask you the same question."

"I don't think I'm going to sleep for a while with all of this," she answered truthfully. "It's a lot to take in at once,"

"I can't imagine what it would be like to learn all of this now, having grown up thinking magic isn't real."

"I wish I could do it again," she shifted in her seat, pulling her knees towards her. "Whatever I did in the alley, I wish I could make that happen again."

"Powers are hard to control. It takes fairies years to learn how to master them, yours have only just started to emerge. You gotta give yourself some time."

"How _much _time, exactly?"

Something in her expression made him laugh, and she felt proud at the sound. "You'll get there eventually, you just need training," he told her.

She looked at the ground, ruefully. "I'm not gonna get any training here."

"Well, then...come to Alfea."

"I can't just..._go _to Alfea. I can't uproot my life." Not that she had much to uproot in the first place, but nonetheless, she had an apartment in her name. And a job. And a crusty futon.

"Powers are dangerous if you don't learn to control them, Bloom. You might not get a choice. If you don't learn how to keep them in check, you could really hurt someone."

The thought had crossed her mind earlier. She looked away while Brandon continued.

"Really...the size of the blast you delivered during the fight was insane, especially for someone untrained. If the guys and I had been closer you would've hit us, and you could have hit a civilian. You might not get as lucky next time."

Unsure of what to say, she dropped her forehead into her knees, groaning. "This is so confusing."

"I can't imagine what you're going through Bloom...I really can't. But I just wanted you to know that it might be in everyone's best interest if we brought you to Alfea, however that may be. You belong there, with us. Not here," he finished, looking out at the people smoking out of their windows and the teenagers making out in the alley below.

Brandon went inside not long after, leaving her to her thoughts.

Her life was so much simpler a week ago. She was a starving artist, a label she bore like a cross. She was a waitress, who lived in Chicago, with crappy coworkers and crappy neighbors who kind of wanted a pet rabbit. Nothing was all that special about her. She was one of 2.7 million people living in this city, trying to create a life for herself. But somehow she felt closer to these three random strangers she had met in the last forty eight hours than she did anyone else that she'd met in the city since she arrived.

She was lonely. She was broke. She was unhappy. Could this be the calling she felt back in June? Was this the destiny that led her to Chicago in the first place? If she'd stayed in Gardenia, or gone to some college in state like everyone else she went to highschool with, she never would have realized she had powers or learned about this insane magical world. Now she felt called again, but to a new location; Alfea. If Brandon and Stella and Sky could get her in, what was stopping her? Did they have currency and money in the magical world?

She'd figure it out, she'd find a way.

One way or another, she was leaving Chicago, and going to Alfea.


	4. A Plan Commences

Over the next several days, Sky and Stella visited her nightly, forming their plan with the help of Brandon and Timmy, who remained at school. It was too soon to the start of term for her to be admitted as a student, they told her, but Stella had another way of sneaking her in. Even though she'd had a few days to get used to the idea, she still couldn't fathom how they'd pull it off. Hearing Sky review it the night they left for Alfea made it sound even more ridiculous.

"There's _no way _I can impersonate a royal, Stella._"_

"Veranda said she has no intention of going, but I _know _she never bothered to tell the school. If you show up pretending to be her, we can get you through the gate and in classes until I can figure something else out. I'll make you one of my Ladies, or something. Then they'd have to let you stay."

"Someone is going to recognize that I'm not the real Veranda."

"Don't worry, Bloom!" she said. "I'm the only one who's ever met her, she never had a debutante and never did the social season. The only reason I know her is because she vacations at the Solarian palace."

Bloom was still unconvinced. "But why do I have to impersonate a _royal? _Can't I just be a regular person?" Pretending to be someone else was stressful enough, but Bloom had as much class about her as a sack of potatoes; there was no way she'd be able to fool anybody.

"Because I don't know any nonroyals who ditched their Alfea slot," Stella explained, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Bloom sighed, pulling out her suitcase to begin packing her clothes. It was her last night before they left for Alfea. She had debated calling her parents and telling them some lie about why she wasn't going to be living in Chicago anymore (along with trying to get out of her lease) but decided to hold off on any major relocation until after she was sure she'd be moving into Alfea. In the meantime, she was only packing a bag of the essentials.

She got all of one t-shirt in before Stella told her not to bother; apparently, her clothes _screamed _Earth, and she'd have to borrow until they bought her some real fashion in Magix. She briefly protested about the cost but Stella insisted on paying for it, saying she loved a good excuse to go shopping, and Sky told her not to bother trying to talk her out of it. So she slipped her suitcase back into her closet, and sat down on the bed, wishing for the clock that was ticking away quietly to go faster. Sky had his watch synchronized with Brandon's back at Alfea; the two were taking point on the mission, planning it along with Stella and ensuring they stayed on schedule now that the time had finally arrived.

There were so many moving parts to this crazy ruse, it made her head spin. She still couldn't figure out just what compelled these people to help her, but at this point she didn't really care. She just wanted to go, and be surrounded by magical beings and learn how to control her powers. That is, if they ever showed up again. Since that night in the alley, she hadn't had any more random bursts of magic. That being said, she also hadn't been attacked by any trolls lately, so she consoled herself with the thought that she simply needed a good scare to jump start her powers again. Maybe sneaking into Fairy College and pretending to be a princess would be enough.

Sky's watch went off, making them all jump. She wasn't sure if it was comforting or not, knowing they were nervous as well.

It was time to start transporting to Alfea. Before she had a chance to feel apprehensive, or even say anything. Stella grabbed Bloom by the elbow, muttered an incantation under her breath, and the stone of her ring began to glow. Bloom felt the metal grow warm against her skin, and closed her eyes, trying not to remember her chemistry class and lessons on what happens when you split atoms.

Eyes closed, she felt her entire body vibrate. It wasn't painful, necessarily, just uncomfortably strange. She felt hot all over, and she could tell her hair was going wild around her. Her body was somewhere between floating and flying-she couldn't feel anything above or below her to indicate some sense of gravity. Scared of whatever she might see, Bloom didn't open her eyes again until Stella shook her arm, calling out her name and telling her to look.

They were in a small clearing, surrounded by thick trees and brush. There was an ornate, old fashioned carriage to her left, led by white horses and trimmed with gold that shone too brilliantly in the dim light to be natural. To her right, she saw a small red aircraft, just slightly bigger than a van, shooting out of the trees and looking very out of place. Brandon was leaning casually against the aircraft, walking over when he saw the two arrive. She could hear fanfare in the distance, and possibly the sound of hoofbeats against a dirt road if she listened closely.

Almost as quickly as she opened her eyes, Stella was already gone.

"It's going to take her a minute to come back with Sky," Brandon explained, seeing Bloom look around.

She sighed, the initial awe at transporting wearing off and suddenly becoming very aware of the sheer magnitude of what they were attempting. "Do you actually think we can pull this off?"

"They don't check for identification. As long as you look and act the part, they're going to be so busy with checking everybody in, they won't look twice. If you say you're Veranda, they'll believe you."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Just am," he shrugged his shoulders, looking away.

They both stared off in silence until Stella returned with Sky, and the real work began. Their first task was changing into appropriate clothing for their arrival. Stella had explained that move in day was among the rare occasions that they were required to wear formal attire, since they had to make introductions with their suitemates, whatever that meant. She described it as a tradition that was half followed; move in day used to be a white tie gala held in the evening with servants handling all of the actual _moving _while the new students mingled over roasted chicken and duck. However, Alfea no longer allowed students to bring personal servants, pushing their students to be more independent away from home.

"But they still make everyone dress up nonetheless, even though we change the moment we get to our rooms," she'd finished in a huff.

Stella grabbed Bloom's hand, leading her into the carriage while the boys returned to the ship. Despite both girls being very short, they still had to crouch awkwardly to keep their heads from hitting the ceiling. Inside the carriage were two benches opposite one another, with a smattering of miniature luggage that looked doll size on one bench. Stella plucked out two from the pile, setting them on the opposite trunk.

_Exaugeo,_ she murmured, and the two suitcases grew to normal size, much in the same way the mattresses had a few nights prior. Stella opened the larger of the two, stared at its contents, and looked back over at Bloom. "I set these aside for us when I packed. We look the same size, don't we?"

Without waiting for a response, she pulled two dresses out from the trunk, passing a green one over to Bloom. She sat on one of the two benches, stripped down to change, and Bloom turned her head instinctively, slightly uncomfortable.

"Sorry, I'm pretty desensitized to changing in front of people. I can step out for you if you want."

Bloom passed it off, and began the awkward process of struggling into her dress in the cramped carriage. She never liked the girls locker room in high school; she was worried someone would think she was staring at them, or that people might stare at her. And she always felt weird being surrounded by girls chatting and having a good time while she quietly changed, too shy to speak with them. But, if there was ever a time to get out of her comfort zone, now was it.

The dresses were simple enough; a few panels of fabric for the skirts, and a structured bodice. Bloom struggled to lace up the back of hers, and Stella came over to help. "I've never worn a corset before," she said dumbly.

"This isn't a corset. They are _much _less comfortable, though they do wonders for your waist. I only bust mine out for balls. This is just for cinching," she said as she finished lacing up the back and tucking in the ends. The boys were already waiting outside the carriage, backs turned, when they stepped out. Both boys were in a blue and tan utility uniform, with tall boots and a cap clasped in front with a teal crystal.

Stella grabbed Bloom by the shoulders, spinning her around so that they were face to face. "Hold still, I just need to fix your hair-" Stella raised her hands, and the boys instinctively took a step back. "Relax!" she cooed at them. "I've been using this spell since I was in junior school."

She waved her hands at Bloom in a pattern she didn't recognize, the ring on her middle finger glowing again. Her mass of red curls suddenly braided from her scalp down, the end tucking into a bun for a simple updo. It was like someone was styling her hair in hyper speed, only she didn't see any hands. Stella took a step back and stared as unruly strands flattened themselves into place, admiring her handiwork.

"Now just a few accessories and we should be good!" Bloom was expecting the girl to perform another spell, but instead she went over to the second trunk in the carriage. She plucked out an ornate diamond necklace and handed it to Brandon. "Give this to Bloom-I mean _Veranda_," she amended. Hearing the correction made her uneasy.

He walked over to her. "May I?" he asked. She nodded, and he wrapped the chain around her neck and clasped the necklace around her. It felt cold and heavy against her skin; she never wore jewelry.

"Stella, she's going to need a tiara for balls, or banquets."

"I know...I only have my own. We'll just have to say you forgot it."

"A princess _forgetting _her tiara on her way to Alfea?" Sky asked in disbelief. "There's no way anyone will buy it. Especially not Griselda."

"Veranda's never left her kingdom before. We'll say she was frazzled and nervous and left it behind in a hurry. Or we can get a new one before the next ball."

The three glanced around at each other, skeptical. Even Bloom heard the flaws in this plan, without having to see the looks on Brandon and Sky's faces. There was no way this would work. Even if they could sneak her past Griselda, they'd never be able to pull it off for the rest of school.

"We only have to get you in through the door. We won't have to keep this up for long, I promise, just _trust me. _We'll go through the gate, check in with Griselda, and say we're tired and would like to go straight to our chambers. We can skip the festivities tonight and just unpack, lots of people do."

Still nervous, she smiled at her new friends and climbed into the seat of carriage. Stella followed suit, taking Sky's hand as she walked up. Bloom instantly realized she should have done the same, and scolded herself. _I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing._

The boys climbed into the front of the carriage, guiding the horses out of the clearing and along a path she hadn't noticed before. She started to stick her head out the window, trying to see, but shot back inside at Stella's scolding, telling her she looked silly. Instead the girls closed every curtain on the carriage windows, praying that whoever checked them in didn't ask to open the curtains and peek inside.

Brandon and Sky had their paperwork for check in; Stella had fashioned Veranda's documents using her own, saying there was no chance Griselda would be able to tell the difference. "I am an _expert _at forgery spells," she'd insisted. Apparently, all they had to do was hand the paperwork off to Griselda, check in, and hope she didn't ask too many questions.

It was actually cozy inside the carriage they sat in. Warm velvet seats, beautiful fabrics with tassels decorating the interior. They'd pushed the small, doll sized trunks and suitcases into a small basket at their feet. With the curtains downs, the majority of the light in the carriage came from sconces on either end that Stella had illuminated herself. There was some light, and a gentle breeze, trickling in between the panels of fabric, but most of it was kept out and they traveled in relatively dim lighting.

"Isn't taking a carriage to move in going to draw people's attention?" Bloom whispered, unsure of who could hear them.

"All the royals do. It's customary. It'd be more weird if we didn't."

She debated asking just how many royals there were at Alfea, then resolved to stop asking questions she didn't want to know the answer to. Maybe it was better she stayed clueless, she'd be less nervous that way.

The sound of hoofbeats and trumpets was growing louder. Stella told her they were getting closer to Alfea, and to pretend to be asleep and let her handle it. Bloom started to lie across the bench, before the blonde grabbed her shoulders and told her "just _close your eyes, _princesses don't just lie down anywhere!"

Yet another reason she shouldn't be impersonating a royal.

They came to a stop, and Bloom could hear dull conversations around them, along with the sounds of wheels against dirt. "We're in the carriage line to arrive. Really, you could fall asleep...this is gonna take a while."

Great, they were stuck in traffic. She couldn't help but snicker at the silliness of it, but kept her eyes closed and attempted to steady her breathing. Which was no easy feat with how tight the dress clung to her rib cage. At least she was used to uncomfortable costumes.

They crept forward a few hoofbeats at a time for what felt like forever, Bloom's heartbeat steadily rising all throughout. She alternated between flashes of hot and cold as her anxiety cycled, and a million scenarios ran through her head of all the many ways this could go wrong. She couldn't help herself; as much as she tried to tell herself it wasn't helping and to just _relax, _she couldn't stop worrying.

The louder the music became and the clearer she could hear the page announcers, the more her anxiety rose. Now she could make out their exact words. As each carriage arrived, they announced who the passengers were. When she heard, "_Princess Delphy of Cerrina!" _it felt like the man was just outside her window. Because he most likely was.

The carriage stopped once again. This time, she heard Brandon's voice tell the page, "Princess Stella of Solaria, and Princess Veranda of Valista."

She held her breath. _Please, please don't open the curtain._

They waited for eternity before the page called out their names. She let out a barely audible breath, visibly relaxing before Stella reminded her that getting past the gate was the easy part.

"Just pretend you're sleeping, and I'll handle the rest," she hissed quietly.

Bloom never wanted to leave this carriage. Her heart was pounding out of her chest and her skin felt like it was on fire, yet she was freezing. Inside the carriage it was dark; she liked the dark. It made her feel safe. She could hide in the dark, and that's all she wanted to do right now; hide, go back to her apartment, crawl away from this hair brained plan they'd come up with. There had to have been a better way to sneak her into the school...couldn't she just enroll for the winter semester?

She felt like she was going to be sick. What happened if she threw up on Stella's gown?

The carriage stopped once more and a whole new wave of stress washed over her.

"Out of the carriage, please!" a stern, growly voice commanded.

Her eyes shot open. She looked over at Stella.

_Griselda, _she mouthed.

The Dean of Students. Sky had told her that she was their only real obstacle; if they could get past her, they'd be in the clear. The four had been hoping the girls would be able to stay in the car and simply stay hidden inside while the boys handled the paperwork with Griselda. Stella had been convinced that since Griselda knew her from junior school, they'd both be left alone. Evidently, that wasn't going to be the case.

Masking her anxiety, Stella stepped out of the carriage, motioning to Bloom to stay put.

"Miss G! Long time no see!" she said cheerfully, shutting the door as quickly as she opened it.

"I suppose I shouldn't bother telling you that you are in a complete breach of etiquette, Princess Stella. Where is Princess Veranda?"

"She's absolutely _exhausted _after traveling all the way from Valista, poor thing. Fell right asleep as soon as we sat down! We wouldn't have to wake her up, would we?"

Bloom could _hear _the look on Griselda's face through the silence that followed.

"Brandon, could you please wake Princess Veranda? She needs to be present to be signed in."

Crap.

Brandon walked around the carriage, opening the door opposite of Griselda. "Princess Veranda? You've been requested," he called in the carriage dutifully, staring at her terrified expression. He'd chosen to open the door opposite Griselda and the party, giving them the briefest moment to reorient her. He smiled at her; it was a smile, polite smile, but warm nonetheless and she tried to find whatever comfort in it she could.

Climbing out of her hiding place, she thought to grab his outstretched hand this time, learning her lesson from before. As she stepped down he whispered in her ear to pretend to be tired and let them do the talking. She felt chills travel down her arm at the action, and its implications.

Before they started walking he placed her hand on his elbow, which she was grateful for; after so much time in the dim lighting inside, she was practically blinded by the sun. He led her over to their small party, her eyes squinting as they tried to adjust. The light was bouncing off the white stone of the castle wall beside them like a mirror.

"Miss Griselda, Princess-"

"Yes yes, I'm aware," she cut Brandon off immediately. Stella stifled a laugh. "Papers?"

"I have them, Miss Griselda," Sky presented the parchment pieces to the Dean, who snatched them away unceremoniously. She plucked the glasses hanging from a chain around her neck, bringing them up to her eyes to squint at the seals on the paper. With her eyes beading and her face screwed up to concentrate, she appeared even more birdlike.

"Princess Veranda, you did not attend junior school with us, is that correct?"

"No, she was tutored privately," Stella said.

"Is she incapable of answering for herself?"

The blonde tucked her chin and cast her eyes over at Bloom.

"Yes, ma'am, this is my first year at Alfea," she said.

"You're a freshman?"

Her knees felt like they could give out at any second. She couldn't believe how much she was shaking...surely Griselda could see her fear. Or smell it. She looked like a person who could smell fear.

"I asked you a question, Princess Veranda."

She hated hearing that name. "Yes, I am a freshman."

The Dean stared at her a moment longer before looking back at her clipboard. "You two are in the freshman wing. Go through those doors there, follow the stairs to the third floor. You are both in the Pine suite. Gentleman, you may return to your post."

For a moment, all four simply stared at Griselda in utter shock. Had they actually gotten away with it? Was this a trick?

"_Go!" _she barked, and instantly they moved. Brandon fetched the basket with Stella's miniature luggage from inside the carriage, handing it to Stella while Sky hopped back on the box seat, rousing the horses and preparing to leave. They two pairs parted ways without saying goodbye, which left Bloom strangely melancholy. She liked having the boys around, and had a feeling it would be quite a while before she saw them again.

They walked through an open set of wooden doors, through an iron archway and into a room that felt larger than Bloom's family home. It was round, nothing but stone, with a massive staircase snaking around its walls. Windows were dotted up the wall and she stopped to stare out one as she climbed to get a view of the gardens behind the castle.

The grounds seemed endless before her. Besides sprawling paths that went so far as to dipped below the horizon line, she could see a massive stable in the distance, with a round pen and jumps. In the sky there were fairies flying already, passing a ball back and forth. It took Bloom a minute to realize that half of the girls were wearing jerseys over their clothing and half had on the glittering material Stella wore when she first had shown Bloom she was a fairy.

Stella walked up behind her, seeing her wide eyed stare. "That's the hoverball team. They moved in early, same with the equestrian girls."

"Are those horses over there?"

"Unicorns, winged horses, and yeah, some Earth horses. We share the stable with Epsilon Academy, Alfea's junior school. They use the stables a lot more than we do, since learning how to ride is a part of their curriculum."

"You guys take classes on horseback riding?" To Bloom, this seemed like a dream come true; she'd always wanted to learn how to ride a horse, but her parents could never afford it. She lowered her voice, in case anyone else was in the stairwell. "Don't you just...fly everywhere?"

"Flying can get tiring, it's not good for long distances. I guess there aren't _that _many times you'd need to ride a winged horse, but it's a good survival skill. My family and I practice our castle evacuation every year, in case there was ever a raid or coup attempt; winged horses are our escape plan. And I ride a unicorn in the Solarian Sun Parade, so there's stuff like that."

"I would love to learn how to horseback ride," she admitted.

"You've _never _been on a horse?"

"Nope, not once."

"We should tell Brandon," Stella smiled, her voice returning to normal. "I bet he'd _love _to help you learn!"

The girls resumed their trek to their room. "No he wouldn't," she said, trying to fight her smile.

"You are _blushing, _my friend. You like him!"

"No I don't, I barely know him!" she laughed, pausing beside the door to the third floor while she waited for Stella.

"Yes, but you'd _like _to know him."

Now to that, she'd agree, and the look she tossed at Stella likely said as much. The two fell into a content silence while Stella pushed open the doors. It opened into a large corridor, with a few doors to their right and tall windows to their left. They were met with two more men, much older than the pages and dressed in military uniforms, though they didn't look like classmates of Brandon and Sky. They asked what suite the girls were staying in, and two offered to walk them there. They didn't attempt to make small talk, and neither did Stella, so Bloom stayed quiet. Their entire interaction was extremely formal, even the manner in which the guards spoke to them; they'd bowed to Stella and called her by her full title, referring to Bloom as simply "your Highness." It seemed like everyone knew Stella here; briefly, she worried it drew attention to herself, but quickly decided there was no way to steal any attention from someone who shone as brightly as Stella.

While they walked along the plush, warm carpet, snaking through hallways, Bloom could feel the train of her dress drag along the fabric. The gentle tug, paired with ambiance of the stone castle walls and lit oil lanterns, was beginning to make her feel regal. Almost like she could possibly pull off pretending to be a royal. This was ridiculous, of course, she didn't have the faintest idea about politics, or royal etiquette, or how to properly curtsy, but could get used to _this _feeling she was beginning to have. Like she was somebody powerful, and important. It was a peculiar feeling that she had only ever felt on stage, when she'd danced Aurora, performing her variation in front of her peers on stage. Maybe she was simply on a high from successfully sneaking into the school, but she couldn't help but feel important.

The men whom she decided must be guards stopped before yet another massive wooden door. "The Pine Suite, Princess Stella," one said, while they each took an iron handle in hand and pushed the door inward. "Welcome home, your Highnesses."


	5. Meet the Royals

_Chapter 5: Meet the Royals_

* * *

Bloom and Stella were the first to arrive at the suite, stepping inside while the guards closed the doors behind them. Stella immediately made herself at home, setting her basket of suitcases on an end table beside a frosted glass door with spiraling iron details. Lettering that gleamed unnaturally shone above the doorway, reading _Princess Stella, Solaria. _Bloom scanned the other doors until she found her name, along with one she didn't recognize directly above it. _Princess Veranda, Valista _and _Queen Flora, Linphea. _It took a moment for Bloom to remember that _she _was Veranda. She was also thrown off by the idea that her roommate was a _queen, _and hoped she wasn't too...snooty.

Stella followed Bloom's gaze. "They made us do all these personality tests over the break, before getting room assignments. The school tries to put together people who will like each other...so I guess Queen Flora and Veranda would have gotten along."

Bloom walked around the oval shaped parlor, reading the names above the other two doors. _Lady Musa of the Harmonic Nebula...Techna, Guardian Apprentice of Zenieth._

"Is _everyone _here a royal?" she asked Stella, turning back around. The blonde girl looked up from the kitchen cabinet she was currently rifling through on the other side of the room.

"Royalty, nobility, high ranking members of the military, pretty much anyone who's a mover and a shaker within their kingdom or realm," she said, coming over to scan names as well. "Techna isn't a noble, _technically, _but she's going to become a Guardian Fairy for her country; that's the most elite squad of fairies a kingdom has. They protect the royal family."

"And Veranda?"

Stella sighed. "You're a princess with no chance at the throne because Valista is traditionalist and you have brothers. Simple as that."

There was nothing simple about lying to her future roommates about who she was for the rest of college...realistically, there was no way they could keep up this ruse forever and was about to say as much when Stella spoke up. "We just need to keep you around long enough for me to make you one of my Ladies, then you _have _to stay by favor of the Solarian Royal Family," she grabbed Blooms hands and looked at her. "You _belong _at this school, we can't have you going back to Earth now can we?"

Before she could come up with a response to this girls generosity, the door was opened once again by one of the guards.

"Princess Stella and Princess Veranda, Lady Musa of the Harmonic Nebula," he said, turning to the side to let her pass through the doorway.

A girl with black and blue hair and almond shaped eyes walked into the parlor, her dress matching her hair. She looked much less regal than Stella, though nonetheless beautiful.

Bloom stood awkwardly, already intimidated by the girl. She jammed her shoulders down like she'd done in ballet class, feeling very silly, and very un-royal. _This is never going to work._

Musa curtsied deeply to the two girls standing before her. Bloom stuck an ankle out behind her, plieing ever so slightly-and finding an angry muscle in her ankle in the process-just as Stella had taught her the night before last. Musa rose as they did.

"Hey, I'm Musa," the girl said, breaking the formality instantly. She smiled at them, and Bloom felt more at ease.

"I'm Stella, and this is Veranda," the blonde princess said, reaching out to hug their new roommate, who seemed caught off guard.

"So...who else are we rooming with?" she asked, walking over to the lounge area and plopping down in a chair, very ungracefully. Her skirt puffed around her like a nest, and Bloom realized she wore combat boots instead of heels.

"Techna and Queen Flora of Linphea."

"Techna and I were roommates in junior school," Musa said. "She's coming late tonight, probably missing the party. I've never met Flora before, but I've heard of her."

"Hasn't everyone?" Stella called from the kitchenette, where she was grabbing glass bottles of water. She held one up in the air, asking if anyone wanted one.

The overall normalcy of this was surprising to Bloom. She expected everyone to be so much more formal, regal, so much less ordinary. But here they were, just lounging in their private suite in a castle, drinking water and gossiping like any normal eighteen year old girls; if she tried, Bloom could pretend they were just killing time in prom dresses before the dance in a fancy room.

Musa must have noticed her discomfort, and asked, "what's up?"

Stella jumped in immediately. "Veranda's never been outside of her kingdom before, she's having a bit of culture shock."

"Maybe that's why they roomed you with Flora," Musa said.

"What do you mean?" she asked, hoping she didn't sound too dumb.

Stella settled down in one of the plush couches facing Bloom. "Flora became a queen when she was two, after her father was killed during a coup attempt. She and her sister are political targets. Apparently, they've been under guard protection ever since."

"Why is she coming here, then?"

"She has to get trained eventually," Stella mused. "And Alfea is one of the safest castles in the universe."

"And a good place to make alliances. Speaking of which, are either of you going to Festifall tonight?" Musa asked. The shift between _political alliances of the countries we rule _and _college meet and greet _was practically laughable.

Once again, Stella saved Bloom from having to answer. "I think we both want to stick around here and settle in. Festifall is lame, they send the boys home before the party anyway."

The three girls laughed, settling into easy small talk while they waited on Flora and Techna. Bloom did her best to participate, but she continually found herself settling back and just listening to the lady and princess discuss the latest "political gossip." They talked about boys, and teachers, and speculated which classes they would be placed in. It sounded, for all intents and purposes, like typical college chatter. They glanced up from their conversation at another knock on the door, watching the doors open in tandem.

"Princess Stella, Princess Veranda, and Lady Musa, may I present Queen Flora of Linphea."

Upon hearing this both Musa and Stella stood up and walked around to the open space in front of the door; Bloom followed just a hair behind.

Bloom hadn't thought this was possible, but Flora had actually managed to out dress Stella. Her pale pink dress was beaming under the light, and her hair was plaited into a perfect braid that cascaded down her back. Briefly, Bloom wondered where her tiara was, and made a mental note to ask about it later.

The queen stopped in front of the three girls. They curtsied in unison-though, Stella did have to tug on Bloom's hand-before she gestured with her hands at them to stop. "Oh it's alright, there's no need to curtsy," she said, her voice warm but nervous. "I'm Flora."

The girls went through their introductions once more, albeit much more formally than last time, before retiring to their couches in the parlor; all except for Flora, who went into their shared bedroom almost immediately.

"She seems shy," Musa whispered to Bloom. "Maybe we should all go to Festifall, give her a chance to feel settled in."

She looked over at Stella to jump in, but she was out of earshot. She was on her own. "I think that might be a little much, maybe we could all just hang out in here?"

"We could have an old school pajama party, I know Tech would love it," she offered. "And we can order food up from the kitchen."

"Won't we have to wait for Techna though? Before we change into pajamas?"

"What, for introductions? She won't care. Tech's super chill," Musa said. "Dunno about Flora, though. I think you should ask her."

She was about to decline when Stella agreed that Bloom should be the one to go. _Oh come on, _she scolded herself. _You're just asking this girl to come out of her room. No big deal. She's just a person._

Taking a breath, she walked over to her new room, nearly tripping over her skirts in the process. Inside, she found Flora, crying on her bed.

Bloom walked over to her new roommate, sitting down next to the bed frame in an awkward heap of fabric. "Flora?"

She jumped, not realizing someone had walked into the room. Instantly she was wiping her eyes and making apologies, before trailing off and glancing down. "It's been a long day," she finished.

"I know," Bloom sympathized, sitting down on her bed. "This doesn't feel like my room, or my bed, or my school..it doesn't feel like I belong here," she opened up, feeling more honest and more real than she had in hours.

"I've never even left my kingdom before."

"Neither have I," she said, and if she pretended that Earth was her kingdom, then it didn't feel like lying.

"I'm not even sure I wanted to…"

Bloom waited for the queen to finish her sentence, but she seemed either too choked up or too lost for words. "I think I want to be here. But I miss home, this is so different," the redhead said.

"What's Valista like?"

She had herself to blame for leading them both to the question. It took her a moment to think of an appropriate response. "Nothing like here," she answered vaguely. "What's Linphea like?"

"I don't know. My sister and I were never allowed to leave the castle."

"Seriously? Not once?"

"We left a few times to see the people, and so they could see us...but we were always under constant protection. We didn't get to explore much."

"That sounds really lonely."

"Yeah, it was."

They sat in an uncomfortable silence, each waiting for the other to speak. She felt uneasy offering up any of her own personal information, lest it give her away as a fraud. But she felt guilty doing so; Flora shared something extremely personal, she felt it was only fair she offered up something as well. Fortunately, Flora stood up from the bed, saying she was going to wash the smeared makeup off her face. She walked towards a door Bloom hadn't noticed when she'd walked in; they had their own bathroom.

She waited for Flora to finish, glancing around their room and taking it all in. It was relatively plain compared to the living area; two large beds, each with a light canopy draped down from the ceiling. Two desks, two dressers, and two large wardrobes. The room felt light and airy, with pine for the furniture and a pale blue on the walls. It was more suited to Bloom's taste than the ornate and warmed tone living area that screamed royalty; inside their room felt much more _college _than castle, if a little scaled up.

Flora slipped out of the bathroom, and the two returned to their suitemates in the living room. In their absence, Stella and Musa had both changed out of their gowns and into pajamas, telling the two girls to do the same when they came out. For a moment Bloom panicked, realizing she didn't _have _any pajamas with her, let alone the dyed silk that Stella and Musa wore.

"You can borrow a pair from me!" Stella offered, standing up and leading Bloom by the shoulders to her room. "Veranda's clothing was lost in transit. We should all go shopping in Magix tomorrow before classes begin, since she needs all new clothes."

The story seemed to satisfy their suitemates, and the two closed the door behind them inside Stella's room. She couldn't help but notice the fact that Stella's room was _huge, _and she had three different wardrobes, all to herself.

"It's working!" Stella hissed quietly, rifling through one of her dressers and plucking out another set of nice pajamas. She threw them in Bloom's direction, who was still struggling to unlace the back of her dress. "Here-no one can undo these by themselves-" she said, giving the redhead a hand. "Musa had to help me with mine too. This is why Princesses have Ladies, just wait till you try on a corset."

"How long are we going to have to say I'm Veranda?" she asked again. She didn't want to seem ungrateful to Stella, but she _hated _lying.

"Just give me a few days to phone my parents and get it all sorted out. But you're here now, so as far as I'm concerned, we're doing just fine."

_If you say so. _She felt like such a fraud.

Techna arrived relatively unceremoniously a few hours later. The guards didn't announce her the way they announced the other girls, and since they were all in pajamas, they didn't bother getting up and curtseying. She and Musa shared a quick hug, but she retreated into her room and changed quickly.

The girls continued to lounge on their couches and talk, with Techna quickly sliding in. The topic had turned to boys, with Stella discussing how _dreamy _Prince Sky was, and what an alliance between Solaria and Uraklyon would be like. "We're all set to be the power couple of the year, mark my words!"

"It would be a match made in political heaven," Techna said, in an ambiguous accent Bloom thought sounded like the Queen of England. "Speaking of political alliances," she continued, her voice going sing-songy, "how is Riven doing, Musa?"

"Ooo, who's _Riven?_"

"Riven's a guy from my realm going to Red Fountain. He and I are arranged to be married in a few years," she said, much more calmly than Bloom would in her circumstance.

"You're in an _arranged marriage?" _the redhead said incredulously.

Musa blinked back at her. "Is that not a thing on Valista?"

"It's...not common," she said. "Isn't it weird knowing the guy you're going to marry already?"

"Not really. He and I have known about it all our lives, I don't know any different at this point."

Bloom leaned forward, more invested in the conversation than she had been all night, considering this actually made sense to her. "When are you guys supposed to get married? Do you have the whole white dress picked out yet?"

Stella gave her a wide eyed, _shut up! _look, but it was too late.

"White dress? Isn't that an Earth thing?"

She sat back on her heels, instinctively looking over to Stella for help. All the blonde could do was stare back at her. Did she really just give them away?

The room hung in a heavy silence, until Flora finally hopped in. "What does the Harmonic Nebula do for marriages? I've never been to a wedding there before."

"I'm surprised that your advisors didn't stick you with an engagement when your-" Musa stopped herself, and suddenly the room was unpleasantly silent once more.

"When my parents died?" Flora finished the girls sentence, free of hostility. "Don't worry, they're working around the clock to pick somebody. One even sent me a list of _appropriate _sutors from Red Fountain to meet." she grinned.

"Really? Like who?" Stella asked eagerly.

The conversation quickly shifted over to the "most eligible bachelors of Red Fountain," any awkwardness passing. Once more they settled into their gossip, and Bloom laughed here and there along with her new friends. This was something she always dreamed of experiencing...she felt like she was at a real sleepover, with real friends, all false pretenses aside. It was comfortable, and she wanted to get used to it.

Her brief moment of contentedness was shattered as the double doors to their suite were slammed open suddenly. The guards had barely announced her name before the Dean came barreling through the door, fury written on her face. All of the girls lept to their feet immediately, only to look past their entrance and see a team of guards and a white haired woman Bloom didn't recognize.

"Princess Stella, Princess Veranda, come with me please."

She could practically feel herself sinking into the floor.

"Now!"


	6. Interrogation and Inauguration

_Chapter 6: Interrogation and Inauguration_

* * *

It was four in the morning when the girls returned to their suite. Griselda, Faragonda, and a man named Saladine had grilled them for hours over just how they had managed to sneak somebody into Alfea. Over and over they were asked _who, _and _when, _and most importantly, _why. _Even Stella failed to come up with a good reason. Why had they lied? Why not just explain the situation to Faragonda and see what could have been done?

To hear the weak justification come out of their mouths cemented what Bloom had already known; likely, what each of them had already known, but had chosen to ignore. This was a ridiculous plan, and she had probably ruined any chance she had of staying at Alfea. Her eyes sunk particularly low when Stella mentioned making Bloom a lady-in-waiting, and that she would have to stay by favor of the Solarian royal family; Griselda was quick to put the young princess in her place, saying that even if Bloom was a noble, both of them have done more than enough to get expelled within the evening, regardless of who Stella's parents were.

Saladine was a short, frail looking old man, but when he turned his disapproving stare onto Bloom and demanded to know who had helped her from Red Fountain, her throat closed from the intimidation. Both she and Stella stayed steadfast and refused to give up the names of the boys, which is likely why it took them so many hours to finally be released and sent back to their rooms, under guard protection. Or, more likely, under guard watch.

They were released with the instruction to be ready to join Faragona again in her office at noon the following day to hear her final decision. They still had yet to know what would be done with them, and had to go through an entire night of waiting. Bloom was thankful that when they returned to their suite, their roommates were already in bed. She didn't think she could face them; like always, a million questions raced through her head about what they must be thinking, or assuming, but she didn't have the energy to set the record straight. Even if she did, the record wasn't exactly pristine.

When she walked into her room, however, it was flooded with light instantly, with Flora bolting upright in the bed. "What _happened?" _she asked.

"Are you that light of a sleeper?"

"What? No, I couldn't sleep. We've all been up waiting to see what happened with you guys...we finally went to bed thinking you weren't coming back. What did you guys _do?"_

She signed, resigning herself to getting no sleep for the evening. In all fairness, she _did_ owe the girl an explanation, though it was hard not to dump the blame of her exhaustion on her roommate.

Launching into an abridged version of the tale, Flora's eyes widened with each passing sentence. The room was filled with a heavy, choking, exhausting silence as the last word of the story rang out and Flora leaned back into her bed, processing what she'd just been told.

"So your name is Bloom, then, not Veranda?" she finally said.

Bloom bobbed her head, uncomfortable. "Yup. That's right."

"Well...it sounds like you could use some sleep, it's been a long few days," she said, and Bloom was taken aback by her sudden nurturing tone. It was a far cry from the crying Queen she'd met, just hours prior.

"Yeah...I guess I do."

She was the last to rise in their suite. Each time her eyes opened she willed them back to close again, drifting in and out most of the morning in dreamless sleep. Nobody tried waking her up, until Flora brought her something in a hot mug and told her that Faragonda would be there in an hour.

When she walked out into the living room, her suitemates were all surrounded by Stella, with tiny plates of meats and cheeses and breads littering the coffee table. All conversation ceased when she sat down beside the blonde.

"Good morning Bloom," Techna said, and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of relief at hearing her own name.

She settled awkwardly into the couch, eyeing the food warrily. She hadn't had dinner last night and knew she _should _eat, but didn't have any appetite.

"We're just waiting for Faragonda to send for us," Stella said, noticing her apprehension. "Eat while you can."

The girls were relatively silent while she spread the most familiar cheese she saw onto what looked like grilled pita bread. She hadn't anticipated how foreign the food would be. Techna looked like she was going to burst with questions, but held her tongue nonetheless. The entire suite was held in a pensive silence until another sharp knock filled the room, and Bloom practically lept from her seat at the sound.

Once more, they were led through the castle flanked on guards on all sides. It was almost embarrassing-in some distant part of her mind, she hoped that if she _did _stay, none of her classmates would recognize her, or remember this. Unlikely, but she could hope nonetheless.

On the top of the highest tower in the castle sat Headmistress Faragonda's office. It was a round room, encircled entirely by windows, with a single marble desk in the center and a dozen or so chairs along the perimeter. Guards filed around the room, backs to the walls but eyes on Bloom. She felt like she was in a fishbowl.

Two chairs waiting for the girls when they arrived, facing the desk that was strangely filled with a similar spread of food to that of the suite earlier, only this time with cookies and biscuits and an ornate teapot. Confused, they sat waiting in trepidation to discover their fate. She wasn't even worried about staying or leaving Alfea...all Bloom wanted was to go home no worse for wear. The thought of actual legal implications had come to her the night previously, and she struggled to rid her mind of it now.

Last night the true effect of the windows was lost on Bloom, who couldn't see more than mirrors in the glass with the dark sky they'd had. Now, she could truly see the miles of forest stretch around them, and the sheer volume of guards patrolling the castle walls and gates. With security this extensive, how _had _they managed to sneak her in? Even now, there were half a dozen guards in this very room.

With little warning but a small crack of sound, Faragona appeared in her office in a flash of light, similar to the way Stella had transformed in front of her. Her expression read much more friendly than it had the night before.

"Hello girls. Please excuse my lateness, I was looking for teacups. I thought we could use some sweets to keep us awake, since last night ran very late."

The two girls couldn't help but glance between themselves in confusion, in shock at the change of tone and questioning its source. Their interrogation had been hostile, threatening, and loud. Faragonda had stayed for the most part silent, but Griselda had threatened everything from locking them in the dungeons to turning them into elves. Saladine swore that Solaria would reap the political consequences of compromising the safety of countless royals and dignitaries. He spoke of lost political alliances and the effect it would have on her country's economy when the news broke. Griselda threatened more bodily harm.

This must be the calm before they ruin Stella politically, and turn Bloom into a rug.

"Please, eat, you girls look famished," the Headmistress said in a very motherly tone, filling each cup with tea.

Taking a breath, Bloom reached out and plucked a pastry filled with what looked like strawberry jam; she was surprised to bite into it and taste such a familiar flavor.

"I had sent for a selection of pastries from Chicago. That is where you are from, Bloom?"

The flaky crust and white icing turned to sand in her mouth. She felt her belly grow hot as the blood rushed from her face.

"There's no sense hiding it now. Saladine checked his deployment schedule. Only one team was sent to Earth. It didn't take long to get information from them. Prince Sky and Brandon of Uraklyon, Timmy of Zenieth, and Lord Riven of the Harmonic Nebula. You can stop worrying about giving your friends up, though I applaud your loyalty."

"Are you going to arrest me?" Bloom blurted out suddenly.

The Headmistress smiled slightly, seemingly amused. "No, Bloom, no one is being arrested. You both are young, and had no negative intent with this plan of yours. You should know that last night would have got much faster had you just been honest with us; all that we worried about was the safety of the castle. We didn't know what to think; all we knew was that someone was impersonating a royal in order to trespass their way into a castle filled with the next generation of the leaders of the realm. Princess Stella bringing a friend to school is really the least of our concerns."

She cast her eyes down, hearing the logic of what Faragonda said, and struggling to understand their lack of judgement when it was laid out so plainly before them. Stella kneed her discreetly, and gestured for her to pick up her teacup, for whatever reason. It must be rude not to touch what she's been offered. Uncertainly, she took a sip, and it felt like she was drinking tar.

"What _is _going to happen to Bloom, Headmistress?"

She folded her hands neatly on the table. "This situation is unprecedented. In any other circumstance, we would send you _both _back to your kingdoms, and encourage you to finish your magical education there. However Bloom, you are not from the magical realm. Alfea and Red Fountain are run by the leading fairies, heroes, and wizards of the time...and none of us could have ever foreseen a magical being residing on Earth. There is something going on here, that much we can all agree on. Because of this," she paused, looking back and forth between the girls, "the faculty of Alfea have decided that you will remain here as a student, taking Princess Veranda's spot, while we get to the bottom of this. But," she continued, and her voice grew stern, "you girls are on _very _thin ice. Princess Stella, you struggled with discipline at Epsilon Academy, something we hoped wouldn't follow you to your final stage of training. That is clearly _not _the case. Should you step out of line again, we will be sending you back to Solaria with an official letter of complaint to the royal family. I'm sure that I do not need to impress upon you the implications of such a disgrace."

"Of course not, Headmistress," she answered, the girl's voice uncharacteristically small.

Bloom couldn't help but ignore the exchange, still in shock at the words that she had heard and was almost convinced she'd heard incorrectly. Had she really been offered a spot to stay?

While she struggled to wrap her head around the situation, Faragonda went on to explain the finer details of the arrangement, as well as ask Bloom increasingly personal questions about her family and her past. The two dissected anything they possibly could about Bloom's life, trying to link the story together. How could a fairy wind up on the magicless planet? One by one, covering topic after topic, they cleared each plate of pastry and finished the pot of tea. Eventually Faragonda dismissed Stella back to the suite with a guard, and called for more hot water and leaves.

The afternoon stretched on much like this, and Bloom grew weary as the sugar and caffeine wore off. While she wouldn't have thought it possible the night previous, she liked the headmistress; she asked her questions tactfully and respectfully, but didn't miss the chance to tease Bloom as she blushed mentioning Brandon visiting her, even if she quickly added that Prince Sky came along as well.

She allowed Bloom to ask questions as well, in a free space where she didn't have to worry about feeling dumb. Faragonda explained the intricate political system that existed within Alfea, about the balls and dinners and other formalities with Red Fountain to build alliances. Briefly, the headmistress explained the idea of _advantageous marriages _within the school, and gently warned her against getting too involved with any Red Fountain boy until she better understood the politics, lest she get attached but have her heart broken.

After hours of discussion, broken only by brief interruptions from Griselda, the two agreed on private sessions between each of them to help Bloom learn to control her powers. She hadn't known it, but Stella and the other girls had been in formal magical training for _years _already...she had only just begun, and there was a long way to go.

It was nighttime when she returned to the suite. This time, she found the entire room empty, with a note from Techna saying they'd gone down to dining for dinner and instructions on how to order up a meal from the kitchen. She wasn't too hungry, but suddenly realized she had no idea what to do with herself; she didn't have a phone, or a laptop, or books, or much of anything to entertain herself and occupy her time. None of her personal belongings had found their way to Alfea, and for the first time, Bloom mourned her ballet barre and pointe shoes back in her apartment. Briefly, she questioned what she should do about the lease, her job, or her parents, but filed the concern away; after all, there was nothing she could do about it now.

Be it boredom or actual exhaustion, she decided on turning in early for the night, thinking it must be around bed time if it was already dark outside. Bloom had no sense of time here; there were no clocks, or watches, or computers to check. She briefly roused when Flora came home, and muttered a polite "good night," before drifting off again, sinking even further into sleep.

Unlike her first night in the castle, she did dream; in fact, her night was filled with the most vivid and exotic dreams she'd ever had. She dreamt of a ballroom floor made of pure gold, of decorated princes lining the walls, and ladies in beautiful dresses gliding across the floor to music she heard so clearly. The backdrop of the room was a wall of fire, that stretched from the floor to the ceiling yet never traveled outside of its near perfect square. She didn't feel any sort of fear of apprehension when she stared at the flame...if anything, it felt like it was calling to her, pulling her deeper into the dream and closer to the couple that sat on the thrones beneath it. For as long as she watched, she never saw the fire move outside of the single accent wall behind the thrones, only ebb and flow, up and down, like ocean waves. The full skirts of the ladies dancing along the floor lit up in a warm glow, casting playful shadows along the around the ballroom. Just as she began to descend the stairs, mesmerized by the flame across the room and wanting desperately to reach out and see if it was real, an artificial and out of place noise filled the scene and she could see the walls shattering around her as the people faded to dust in the wind.

This time, it was an actual alarm that roused her; she peeled her eyes open to stare at her sunlit dorm room, disoriented and wondering just how long she'd been asleep.

"Five more minutes," she muttered to Flora, pulling the covers over her ears and wanting desperately to return to her dream that she could already feel slipping away.

"Don't fall back asleep," she yawned. "We have assembly in twenty minutes."

They dressed quickly, Flora lending Bloom a set of clothes; flowing slacks, practical boots and a well fitted top. It was flattering-nothing anyone would wear on Earth, but Bloom liked it. The fashion varied widely amongst the girls; Stella in a short orange dress, while Techna wore a fitted pantsuit. Nothing looked _unattractive, _but somewhat discombobulated together.

The dining hall was half full when they arrived. It was only the size of a large restaurant, really, with round tables and warm tablecloths spotted along the dark wood floor that paneled up half of the wall. She could see the entrance into the kitchen tucked in the corner, behind a gauzy curtain that matched the tablecloths and window treatments.

Each table was labeled with a floating flower or sprig; the table with the rose was already filled, while a lilac hovered lazily at a lonely table, rotating slightly with the wind. Near the front of the dining hall was a small, intimate stage; to the immediate right was a table with what seemed to be a sprig of pine, and the girls took their seats quietly as soon as Techna pointed it out. The room was relatively silent and tense-Musa had told her to simply "act natural" when they left for their breakfast, and she didn't have much to worry about. Everyone seemed too shy to speak up, and the room was filled with nothing but the sound of scraping chairs and the occasional polite greeting.

The girls rose abruptly as Miss Fargonda entered the room, with Griselda and a few teachers following behind. They fanned out on either side of the headmistress as she took her place at the podium.

"Good morning girls, and welcome to a new year!"

"Good morning Headmistress," the crowd mimicked back. Bloom mouthed the words awkwardly, hoping it wasn't too noticeable that she didn't know her lines. Following her friends lead she sat down as gracefully as possible, keeping her eyes on Miss Faragonda and she shuffled her papers and adjusted her glasses.

Waiters came and filled their water glasses while the headmistress spoke about castle rules and policies, an upcoming invasion drill, and tryouts for various clubs and sports. Having no intention of stepping out of her nonexistent comfort zone yet, Bloom was just beginning to zone out when something piqued her attention.

"And next week, we will graciously host the first relations event with Red Fountain-the Inauguration Ball! You will receive your written timelines in your suites by the end of the day. Remember, a lack of punctuality is a lack of _respect, _both for our guests and for yourself."

With that she turned the attention over to the Head of Discipline. Griselda cleared her throat loudly, silencing the small murmurings that had filled the room while the two transitioned and Miss Faragonda took her seat. Griselda had been the harshest of the professors who'd grilled her and Stella; seeing her again made Bloom's heart pound like before. Something about the woman made her uneasy; when she went on to explain the years new disciplinary policies, which included everything from power suppression and manual labor around the grounds "_at her discretion,_" Bloom made a note to ensure she never had to face punishment from this woman again.

One by one, each of the teachers went through and listed their brief announcements and Bloom grew more and more hungry, and more and more bored. She could see it reflected in her suitemates slumping posture and wandering eyes as their teachers dragged on. She was dying to ask Stella more about the Inauguration Ball. Would Brandon be there?

The moment the teachers filed away after Faragonda's closing statements, hot food was brought out at set before every girl by a small army of soundless waitresses in flowing gray dresses. She said thank you to one out of habit, instantly garnering the attention of her table and those nearest. The girl stared back at Bloom, confused, before awkwardly smiling and scurrying away to fetch another plate for someone else.

Musa, who sat beside her, leaned over and quickly whispered _we don't talk to the servants. _Bloom frowned, confused. She'd been a waitress for too long to behave so rudely to another one. But looking around, each of the girls continued on their normal conversations and completely ignored those setting their breakfast down in front of them. It felt wrong, but Bloom was in no position to make waves, and kept her mouth shut.

Stella was the first person at the table to pick up a spoon and start eating what resembled oatmeal, loaded with berries and nuts, though none that she recognized. The flavors were richer, some more tart and some more sweet. The temperature was pleasantly yet strangely consistent, the top of her food never cooling and the center never too warm. She had to force herself to eat slowly, like the rest of the girls.

Bloom desperately wanted to ask questions about the Ball, but felt like the wrong time. The chatter was kept light, polite, and bland; weather, sports, summer trips they'd taken. It felt out of place and she didn't want to brand herself as the _Earthling _to her new classmates, wondering if they didn't already know. Once they returned to their suite, she instantly burst with questions for the girls. Funnily enough, she wasn't the only one; Flora was also hounding Stella for information about what it would be like and how to prepare.

"Have you really _never _been to a ball?" Stella asked the Queen, as though it was a crime against humanity.

"My sister and I weren't allowed around anyone but each other, really. We learned a few dances with the guards-well, the young ones at least," Flora said with a smile, "but that was it. It was usually just her and I."

"You must miss her a lot," Musa said, sympathetically.

"Yeah, I do..." Flora trailed off, and perked up quickly, noticing the energy shift in the room, "I want to hear more about dances. You three have to get Bloom and I ready so we don't make fools out of ourselves."

They spent their last day before class laughing through _Princess Training, _with Stella placing books on their heads and telling them to walk (which Flora could already do, but played along with for Bloom's benefit) or showing Bloom how to whip a fan open and flutter at her face, alluringly. They had a good laugh when she clumsily sent it flying over her shoulder, and Flora showed her how to grip the outside of the fan to keep it steady. She'd always wanted to dance the Kitri variation, where the dancer gets to use a fan as a prop, but she'd never gotten the chance. She wondered if her dance friends would have been this jovial if she'd sent a fan across the room.

Actual dancing is what Flora struggled with the most, but Bloom didn't have trouble in. Stella determined herself to be the dance instructor while Musa and Techna acted as the men leading. They giggled their way through several two- and three- step combos, before Musa and Bloom started getting cocky and twirled each other around, kicking their legs out like Rockettes. They learned that Musa had grown up singing and dancing, and was quite skilled in both; Bloom shared that she'd been in ballet classes all her life, and had dreamed of being a professional dancer when she had arrived in Chicago. She'd begun to explain to them what ballet was, expecting a cultural block, when Techna told her that ballet existed in the magical world as well; it was even part of their required training because of the discipline and strength training. This left her with a whole new host of questions, wondering where the art had begun, or if it had been a multiple discovery between the worlds.

Much of Bloom's dance training had been in the corps de ballet; she'd learned many roles that resembled the formal dances one would find in the Victorian era. While she didn't know the steps of the court dances they learned now, the pattern was easy enough to pick up and both she and Flora were sailing through them with smiles on their faces by the end. She liked wearing the long skirt Stella had insisted she put on, saying that they had to practice in the clothing they'd perform in. The rule of thumb was similar in ballet, and she felt at home gliding around in a long skirt and dancing shoes. While she preferred her own worn in dancing heels-Stella's didn't quite fit her, and the heel was much more narrow-she nonetheless felt her posture correct to what Musa had been driving into her earlier and her chin sat proudly as she knew she was performing the steps right. Bloom had always been more confident dancing that not, and she was grateful to find it was such an integrated part of this society; even moreso, it seems, than in Chicago.

She could almost tell herself that at the Inauguration Ball, as long as she was dancing, someone might believe she belong here.


	7. Behind the Curve

_Chapter 7: Behind the Curve_

* * *

That evening, not long after they'd retired to the parlor, a page knocked on the door with a parcel of paper for them. It contained both their weekly schedule of classes, and further instructions of dress code, arrival times, and etiquette for the Inauguration Ball the following weekend. She barely scanned that document; she was too excited seeing that as Techna had said, _ballet _was integrated into her schedule, her first class being _tomorrow_. She'd also be studying charms and royal etiquette. Politely, quietly, she swallowed her questions and her excitement while her new friends discussed dresses and tiaras and boys_; _she resigned herself with just listening, suddenly far more excited about the first day of classes to care.

Flora lent her more clothes to wear to class, saying she had plenty. This was the first time each of the girls wore almost the same thing; rather than a leotard and tights, as she was accustomed to, they'd worn dresses that felt like nightgowns; they'd make beautiful Clara costumes. The skirts flowed in panels down past her knees, with several layers of cotton. Delicate ribbon held up the empire waist bodice. Her dress was stitched with tiny blue flowers; she'd noticed when they were together that this was likely because of who she'd borrowed from. The different pale pastel dresses all resembled the attire of a class from the 1800s, but each had the slightest difference, depending on where the girl was from. Techna's had no unnecessary frill or lace, and the seams were clean and streamline. Stella wore pale yellow. Musa had several colors in her skirts, painted to look like watercolor, while Flora and Bloom had a field of flowers embroidered into their skirts.

She discovered that ballet at fairy school was strangely similar to ballet on Earth; there were a few small variations to movements that must exist purely to make the movement _more _difficult, regardless of aesthetics, but she felt at home with her hand on a barre and going through her plies, tendus, releves, and degages. The instructor leading their class came over several times, watching her. Her flexibility made her stand out; the rest of her classmates were able to reach a comfortable 90 degree angle during their battements and developpes, but hers were trained to stretch far past that. At one point, she made an effort to stop her leg from going quite so high, but the instructor wordlessly grabbed her ankle and pushed it higher as he walked by. He also made a few corrections to her arm and hand placement.

They spent the entire hour at the barre, never venturing into the center or across the floor, to her disappointment; she'd always loved to jump and fly across the floor. Now, she might be learning how to _actually _fly.

Professor Wizgiz was a short man, with an extremely high pitched voice and curly hair that rivaled Bloom's spilling out from under a top hat. He was actually what she'd been expecting when she'd been brought to Alfea; she hadn't asked if he was considered a "dwarf," and no one said it in so many words, but he looked almost identical to the description of the mythical creature from her childhood storybooks.

"It's the first class of the year, a year full of great potential and limitless possibilities-and that is what metamorphosis is all about!" he was saying, while Bloom burst with excitement and nerves and the prospect of being in her _first _class on magic. "Metamorphosis is the art of changing how you appear, and once you master it, you can turn into anything from a rock, to a rock star! Let me give you a little preview. Look at me now, an average elf, right?"

_So that was the vernacular, _she thought as he gestured to himself.

In a flash of hazy light that looked like a mirage, Wizgiz was gone, and Griselda appeared before them. The body and the clothes looked correct, but the goofy grin on what was normally a very cold face seemed off putting and just...wrong.

"Don't worry," he reassured, voice matching Griselda's perfectly, "I'm not really the Queen of Detention. The beauty of magic is that you can always go back to being you!"

The mirage was back, and within the blink of an eye, so was professor Wizgiz. It was almost comical seeing each of her classmates heads shift down a fraction, from looking at the adult sized headmistress to the elf who was barely three feet.

"For now, we'll start with the basics," he explained, passing mirrors out to each student. "We'll warm up with one of the simplest exercises: changing your hair color. You should all be able to breeze through this one. Look in the mirror, focus your magic, and go. Try to change it! Visualize your new do!"

Each girl in the room was able to do it with ease, Bloom stared at her mirror in frustration. Wasn't she supposed to say something? No one else seemed to be. All they did was look at the mirror and change it. How could it be that simple, and how stupid must she look for not being able to do it?

Wizgiz walked over to her, looking concerned. "Bloom, it's a little early to fall behind. You have a lot of homework to do!"

She lamented the story to her suitemates that night, after classes were over and they returned to their suite for the evening. The girls had elected to have dinner privately, needing to decompress after the first day of classes-and least, four of them did, and Stella went along with the group. Bloom had done fine in their morning ballet class, and passed through etiquette without making a fool of herself, but charms class was nothing short of humiliating.

"I was the only one who couldn't do it!" she groaned, picking at her tiny finger foods. Almost everything they ate was a mix of petit fours and tapas spread out to share; rarely did they eat a singular meal on a plate.

"Wizgiz isn't known for explaining things well, and you are a _little _bit behind the rest of us," Stella said in a friendly voice.

"I'm _years _behind you guys, Stella."

"So, let us help you," Techna said logically. "We're all more than qualified to teach you the basics. Probably more so than the teachers, since we remember what it was like to learn all of this."

"We can start right now!" Stella said excitedly, leaping to grab a mirror from her bedroom and handing it to Bloom. "Have you ever done something crazy, drastic to your hair before?"

"Um, I dyed it black once," she said, because that's what you did when you were a redhead and a boy broke up with you.

"So think about _that, _really visualize what it was like. Smell, color, texture, everything you can think of, really round out the image."

They all stared at her expectantly while she looked in the mirror, but lost their polite interest when they realized there wasn't a chance under the sun of Bloom managing to do anything to her hair...she dropped the mirror onto ground and flopped onto the floor in a huff.

"You just have to take it day by day," Musa said, comfortingly.

"I hope tomorrow is better. It's bad enough listening to everyone gossip about me, I don't need to be a complete idiot on top of it."

"Well, the learning curve for the first semester at our new school is quite steep, you know," Techna reminded her. "Don't be too hard on yourself."

However, as she moved through each of her classes for the week - some about diplomacy, some about etiquette, one where she spent over an hour with her shoulders tied to a chair and attempting to drink a cup of tea - the magical elements continued to place her behind. She struggled with _summoning _her powers on command, let alone manipulating them strategically the way the other girls were. She grew more and more frustrated each day, nearly snapping at Griselda when she reminded her to see Miss Faragonda in her office for their weekly lunch. She'd forgotten she was meeting with her this afternoon; she had made it a week at fairy school already.

"You had to expect that you'd be behind," Miss Faragonda handed her a cup of tea, settling down in the seat across from her. "An average fairy starts exhibiting magic around age twelve. They begin their magical training not long after. You, Bloom, are eighteen years old. You have only begun to exhibit your powers."

"I haven't been able to...do magic-" was that the vernacular? "-since that day in New York. That could have been a fluke, _nothing _has happened since then and-"

"Bloom, dear," Miss Faragonda held up her hand. "Powers are very sporadic when they are just beginning to cultivate. They take time to regulate; the junior school is designed for young, developing fairies to attend magical classes when their powers allow. It is a year round education until the girls' power becomes reliable enough to attend regular classes. Bloom…" Miss Faragonda folded her hands on the table. "I want you to consider accepting a transfer from Alfea College to the junior school, Epsilon Academy."

"The junior school?" Bloom couldn't hide the desperation in the voice. "Aren't I too old?"

"You are older. As I mentioned, powers begin to develop around the age of twelve. The youngest Epsilon will accept is fourteen; it is believed that magical powers require one on one education in the early stages. Many of the families of Alfea alumnae hire private tutors."

Yet another thing she missed out on.

Faragonda continued on. "The decision is up to you, ultimately. But it might be a better education for you. The facilities at Epsilon are better equipped to handle a developing fairy. By the time girls reach Alfea, they have enough control over their powers to really strengthen and perfect them. You," she struggled to find the words. "You don't have the basics Bloom, you can't build upon what isn't there."

Hearing it outright was harder than she expected. She kept waiting for this perfect magical bubble to burst; here it was. She should be grateful they weren't sending her back to Earth, but hearing just how far behind she was was daunting and discouraging. "You said I don't have to. Is there _any _way I could stay at Alfea?"

"You are a rare situation. Powers developing later in life isn't unheard of, but a magical being coming from Earth was previously believed to be impossible. I want you to explore all of your options Bloom, and discuss them with myself and your other teachers and friends. We can continue working together, and perhaps you could join Alphea next year, with more experience and control. A year at Epsilon can do a lot for a young fairy."

She found Flora first, sitting in the courtyard and concentrating on changing the colors of a flower in front of her. The purple tones drained out of it the moment Bloom broke her concentration, and she looked up in frustration for a moment. "Wha-oh, Bloom. Are you okay?"

She couldn't tell if her face read like a book, or if Flora was just good at reading people. Launching into her conversation with Faragonda, she was surprised when her roommate's face grew into one of resolve, rather than sympathy.

Rather than offering advice, or comfort, the girl started explaining to Bloom what she was attempting to do with the flower; by manipulating the anthocyanins within the flower, she could shift the tones from red to blue. She explained the morphology of the flower, of the four whorls and the function of the petals in pollination and Bloom was taken aback by her botanical knowledge. When she turned to Bloom and told her to think about the chemicals, think about the anatomy, think about what pollinators would be attracted to the flower if it were blue instead of pink, she watched it change from pink to a pale blue; the same color as their bedroom walls.

She stared at it for a moment before turning to Flora, who grinned at her proudly. "Did you do that?"

"Nope! That was all you Bloom. You did it."

She threw her hands around her friend in glee, ecstatic. "I haven't been able to do anything like that all week!"

"The teachers are explaining things to you like they would explain things to the girls who graduated from Epsilon. I'm not in the same spot as you, but I'm struggling too. You and I just need to work things out in our own way, the way _we're _used to thinking."

Bloom smiled at the girl. She liked Flora; her tone was always so maternal, and friendly. She kept forgetting Flora was a queen, returning to rule her country when their education was over. Her demeanor seemed too soft, too gentle, too sweet to be in charge of armies and battles and lives. Maybe that was why she was so genuine.

"I really appreciate you helping me," she said. "This is the first time I actually feel like I know what I'm doing."

"The other girls will help you too. I'm good with botany charms, but Techna is great with combat and Stella knows a lot about healing. We all really want you to stay," she said earnestly, and Bloom couldn't help but be warmed by the generosity. For the first time, she was beginning to feel like she might belong at Alfea.

* * *

_I THOUGHT I LOST THIS WHOLE DAMN CHAPTER AND I FOUND IT AND I AM SO HAPPY._

_that's it, that's the whole authors note._


	8. The Inauguration Ball

_Chapter 8: The Inauguration Ball_

* * *

Stella traipsed out of her room with a red gown in hand, twirling around through the parlor to show off the cascading skirts.

She was speaking in her _formal _tone, a sound only reserved for etiquette class and the occasional phone call to her mother-her vowels sounded longer and more proper, while her consonants were crisper and more enunciated. "A party is only as good as what you wear to it, and this will be an _excellent_ party. Behold," she stopped, holding the dress out for inspection, "an _Iwink Wizrahi_!"

"It's fresh," Musa said. "And so definitely 'till Prince Sky sees you!"

The Solarian blushed, and they all had a good laugh at the implication-the brown-haired Crown Prince of Eraklyon was practically all she could talk about, aside from fashion and an occasional quip about classes.

Flora sighed, bringing her own blush pink gown over. "I wish we could just use magic to create outfits. It'd be so much easier than trying to find one to purchase."

"Someday someone will come up with the spell," Techna mused. "For now, though, it took me forever to find this thing!"

"I'm worried," Bloom admitted, and she hoped her roommates didn't think she complained too much. "Brandon will be there, and _this_ is all I have to wear," she gestured down at the simple clothes Flora had given her. When they went to classes, she borrowed some of the pieces her suitemates had given her, and she hadn't thought much about her lack of wardrobe. Now, however, seeing the regal dresses her friends sported, she realized how much she was lacking.

Stella dropped her gown on the couch, reaching for her clutch. "No friend of mine is going to feel apparel shame. There's a very simple solution-we head to Magix and go for a shopping spree!" she said excitedly.

Bloom inwardly cringed, knowing she had no way of paying for new clothes but not sure how to communicate it.

Techna must have seen the apprehension on her face and spoke up next. "Really, Bloom, you do need more clothes, we should've taken you shopping when you first got here."

"And don't worry about the cost," Stella said, as if reading her mind.

"I can't let you pay for me—"

"Consider it a gift from the Solarian royal family. You can use my shopping budget for the month. Really, Bloom, I want you too."

Knowing better than to argue with the blonde once she had her mind set, Bloom agreed, hoping she could pay her back someday.

They didn't have to wait long for the daily shuttle that left for Magix, and the ride into the city was almost instantaneous. Well within her element, the group let Stella lead the way confidently to their first store. She announced they'd start with everyday clothes, before moving onto the more specific formal wear. She also forbade each of the girls from showing Bloom any price tags.

The boutiques were similar enough to any she'd seen in Chicago and functioned much the same; they went through the racks methodically, pulling anything that would pop against her pale skin or red hair. The idea of Stella paying for her still made her uneasy, but once she squashed it down, she could admit that what they were doing was loads of fun. She'd never gone on a shopping spree before, and watching her new friends get excited for her was infectious.

They took the armfuls of clothing into the dressing room, and one by one she tried on each garment, leaving the dressing room after each outfit to give her friends a fashion show. They all were mostly unanimous in what they did and didn't like, though Stella and Techna occasionally butted heads over practicality and functionality.

When she'd built up a sizable stack, uneasiness set in. Even with Stella's promise that she didn't mind paying, Bloom couldn't help but feel guilty, knowing this much clothing had to be expensive. Even the other girls seemed to share the sentiment. Stella continued to bring more for her try on, even though Techna reminded her they still had to buy formal wear and likely couldn't carry all of this back. Flora simply looked uneasy. Musa, usually the quiet one of the group, voiced her concern that if they bought _everything _today, they'd have no excuse to come back shopping later. Stella gave no heed to the girls and had armfuls of clothes paid for and shrunk into bags without fanfare.

"Now," she said, determinedly, "time for a dress for the International Conference."

Bloom didn't recognize the event, and Flora was quick to jump in. "We better just get a dress for tonight and head back; we're going to miss the last shuttle. And we still have to get ready for the ball."

Begrudgingly, Stella complied, and marched them over to a store with a practically flaming dress in the window. Bloom hung back, whispering to Techna, "how much was that, really?"

"Don't worry," she said, "you're not going to bankrupt the Solarian monarchy. I just don't understand where her obsession is coming from. Though, this is Stella we're talking about."

The conversation ceased at their next destination. They were all worn out by now, having spent hours in the last boutique-finding a dress had gone from an outing into a chore, and they rifled through the racks with much less enthusiasm than before. Bloom settled on the first dress that she liked, not having the patience to look at _options, _like Stella insisted.

Musa practically dragged the princess out of the boutique, who was suddenly saying she wanted to try on a few gowns herself. "If we don't start getting ready soon, we're going to be late, and Griselda will turn us into one of those mannequins."

/\/\/\

At precisely five-thirty, she arrived in the parlor with Musa and Techna. Flora and Stella were arriving elsewhere, as royalty from both schools were being presented at the Ball. "It would be too time consuming if they presented _all _of us," Stella had explained. So, instead the three non-royals of the suite entered the Ball with each other, dresses trailing behind them. It took almost everything for Bloom not to stomp on the train in front of her, which extended practically two feet from the woman wearing it. _How could you possibly dance in that?_

The pages opened the doors after banging their sticks that Bloom still didn't know the name of, and the parade of young women began. Once in was their turn to enter, her eyes widened to take in as much as possible. Thick, velvet curtains were pulled to each side and held back by gold sashes, revealing giant windows that went to the ceiling of the room. Hundreds of candles floated in the sky of the ballroom, yet no wax dripped to the floor. The marble floor shone like it had never seen a pair of shoes, and each of the massive fireplaces contained a roaring flame, though the room remained pleasantly cool. There were couches scattered along the sides of the ballroom, and a large bar off to the side with a few tables and chairs near it.

Many of the Red Fountain boys were already here, each adorned with their formal red jackets, dripping with medals and cords displaying their individual achievements. Some lounged on the plush couches, some leaned against walls while they spoke, but no one had approached the middle of the floor.

The three were among the first to arrive in the room, as Techna had predicted. They mingled with other girls from Alfea, with only Musa's eyes scanning the room in search of Riven. Servers handed them each a goblet of sparkling, amber liquid, and Techna warned her to sip slowly. The scent alone gave away the alcoholic nature of the drink, and she couldn't help but feel much older and much more confident holding the crystal glass, despite everyone around her holding one as well.

She sipped on it as they waited for each and every royal at either school to be announced as they walked into the ballroom. She understood what Stella meant earlier; even when they only presented the _crown _royalty between the schools, it was still a lengthy show. Stella clearly wasn't the only princess, and Bloom started on her second drink in an effort to alleviate her boredom.

"Where's Stella?" she whispered to Musa, as the ceremony drew on.

"The order is based on country ranking in the realm, and Solaria is one of the highest. She'll be one of the last."

Techna pointed at a prince wearing a well decorated uniform and modest crown as he entered the room. "That's the crown prince of my country, Jayne. He's probably going to come over and say hi, there aren't many of Zenieth at our schools right now. Don't be nervous."

Before she could respond, Stella appeared on the stage, a glittering tiara of sunset colored jewels resting on her head. For all the girl's vanity, she seemed as fed up with the lengthy presentation of royals as the rest of the party; it had been over twenty minutes, and Bloom was on the final sips of her drink once again, while still more presentations were made.

"Only a few more kingdoms after Stella. Flora's last. Once she's presented, it's over."

"Is Linphea the highest country in the realm?" Bloom asked, surprised.

"No, not at all. But she's the only reigning monarch, so she outranks princes and princesses by default."

A girl in Bloom's charms class was announced, followed by Prince Sky, who looked oddly out of place and uncomfortable on the stage. A hush fell over the room as Sky descended the steps into the ballroom, and Flora took her place at the entrance. A renewed sense of attention seemed to have appeared, and each and every eye was very invested on the fairy of flowers.

"Queen Flora of Linphea!" the page called out.

She smiled at the crowd, and with more grace than Bloom could have asked for with that much attention, descended the stairs and made her way over to the girls of Pine Suite immediately.

With her on the move, the rest of the ballroom faded into their respective groups and the dancing took place. The colors of the girls' dresses, the light suddenly dancing off of the military ornaments and crown jewels, and the glittering chandeliers created a dazzling strobe effect-one that was making Bloom's head spin the more she looked at it.

Techna looked over, seeming to notice her sudden headrush. "I told you to be careful drinking," she said, disapprovingly.

"I did, I'm fine," Bloom protested, though she felt uncomfortably warm.

"Let's find you a glass of water," Flora said, taking her arm. "You just need something else in your system."

Clutching onto her roommate's arm, the two began walking around the outskirts of the dancing towards an exit in the back. The two pages guarding the door initially refused to let them leave, but quickly obliged when they realized who exactly they were answering to.

"Why couldn't we just find something in the ballroom?" Bloom asked, sad to be leaving such a beautiful party so soon. She'd never been to something so formal and didn't want to waste a minute of it.

"You kind of need to walk it off before anyone sees you," Flora said gently. "You look like a bit flushed."

She knew somewhere in her mind that she should be embarrassed, but the alcohol was dampening her inhibition. Still, she felt guilty dragging Flora away, and was about to say as much when the young queen started speaking. "Besides, I needed a bit of a break myself."  
"Overwhelmed?"

"Kind of. I'm used to being stared at by a crowd-Rose and I did see the people sometimes-but something about being in front of all our classmates and the boys made it so much worse. At least this is the only event we go through the whole _presentation _thing for."

The girls lounged in their empty suite for a while, snacking on crackers while Bloom sobered up and Flora calmed down. They had just begun to clean up, ready to return to the dance, when Bloom noticed a sound come from Stella's room.

Confused, she walked over, noticing movement coming from behind the clouded glass door. Motioning Flora over with her hand, they both ducked behind the couch, peering over it to stare at the motion becoming increasingly visible in the Solarian's chambers. By the shape of the dark form, silhouetted against the moonlight from Stella's window, it was chillingly clear what was happening-somebody had broken into their suite.

"We should get help," Bloom hissed.

"All of the guards are at the ball, we're not supposed to be up here," Flora responded, her eyes looking wide and fearful.

"Why are they in Stella's room?"

Flora frowned, seemingly perplexed by the same question. Her voice raised a fraction too loud when it struck her, "her ring!"

The noise and the motion where instantly extinguished, and Bloom and Flora ducked as low below the couches of their parlor as possible. At the last second, she realized her massive skirt peaked out behind the edge and pulled it in close in an effort to hide, her heart pounding.

The door swung open, and an invisible voice hissed, "_Icy! Shut it!_"

"Relax, Stormy, I told you; they're all at the party. Just get what we came for and let's leave, it's got to be around here somewhere."

The two young fairies stared at one another in horror while the intruder exited Stella's room, working her way towards them in a reckless search. Pots of vibrant flowers Flora kept meticulously groomed were crashed to the floor, and the Queen flinched in anger. Her eyes moved from terror to resolve as the chaos grew closer to their hiding spot, creeping up on them with each passing breath.

She bolted upright, blading her hands forward in a motion that felt hauntingly familiar. Just had Stella had done, she was bathed in a brilliant light and Bloom shut her eyes instinctively. When they opened, her roommate had grown wings, and taken a defensive stance against their intruders.

"What—"

Having caught Icy off guard, Flora spit out a spell before she realized the fairy was there. Bloom stared, stunned, as the ivy climbing on wall of their veranda shattered the class of the doors and attacked on Flora's command.

Unsure what to do, Bloom crouched motionless in her hiding spot, crushing her skirts around her. The surprise attack was a good shot, but Flora was just as soon pushed back onto the coffee table by a rush of icy air that seemed to chill them both to the core.

"Run! Get help!" she hissed.

She tried to scramble to her feet, but her feet grew tangled in the layers of fabric and heels and she ungracefully faceplanted onto the cold marble floor, noticing a thin layer of ice crystals beginning to form.

A heeled shoe clicked the ground beside her, and she looked up to see a woman glaring down at her, with hair cascading to the floor and eyes locked on Bloom. "What do we have here?"

Flora drew in a sharp breath, a spell just on her lips, but Icy's arm was up before she could finish. She shot a gust of air over to the Queen, pulling it back sharply and taking the breath from her lungs along with it. Flora coughed, pulling in her knees and gasping for air, and Bloom tried hooking a hand around Icy's leg in a vain attempt to knock her down.

"What, are you gonna bite my ankle?" she sneered, and her companions laughed venomously. She stamped her heel across the red hair sprawled across the floor, and Bloom winced in pain.

"Icy, it isn't here," a voice said, exiting Stella's room. _How many of you are there?_

Icy dropped to a crouch in front of Bloom, pulling her up by the chin to stare directly into her eyes. Her hair screamed in protest. "Where is the ring of Solaria?"

"And why would we tell you?" Flora coughed, glaring.

"Fairy, I will pluck the wings from your back," Icy threatened. "Tell me where it is, _now!"_

"Back off!" Bloom shouted, though it sounded rather lackluster. "I have magic powers!"

Her face morphed into one of pure amusement, like someone watching a child play pretend. "Oh yeah? Show me something then."

"She can't even transform," the one still inside Stella's room snaked her way out, mocking the Earthling. "I bet she's one of the maids they dressed up for the night."

"She does look like a pity party, doesn't she?"

_I'll show you a pity party, _she thought, her anger bubbling to the surface.

"Probably a public service project for one of the seniors. Dress up one of the common people and let them play princess for an evening, it's cute," Icy mocked. Her friends circled the two girls, snapping spells at Flora anytime she tried to move or fight back.  
They were getting their asses handed to them. Why couldn't she transform like Flora? Was it really that hard? Why-

"Alright ladies, enough playing. Finish them and let's get back to looking before the rest of the pixies come home."

"I call Queeny," said the one with the wild hair, in an almost sing song voice.

As she raised her hands before Flora, who was using all her strength just to pull her arms in front of her face, Bloom felt the same burning travel down her skin as she had that night in Chicago. She shut her eyes, focusing on her hands, trying to remember the shapes and sounds Techna had tried to teach her.

"Ignis!" she shouted.

The tips of her fingers burned, like she'd touched a hot pan, and more glass shattered to the floor. The tension on her hair vanished with one final tug. Opening her eyes, she saw the three intruders knocked to the ground. Her own hold released, Flora leapt off the table, rushing over to stand beside Bloom.

At her command, the vines and flowers came back to life, stacking up along side Flora like a snake prepared to strike. "Now get out of our rooms!" she hissed, uncharacteristically venomous. Bloom planted her feet beside her roommate, attempting to look as ready to attack as she was. Looking down, she realized that like Flora, she wore a dazzling dress made of some unhuman material. Her balance was altered, her senses were heightened and when she reached her arm around, she felt the silky wings she'd coveted since she day she'd arrived.

At that instant the large door to the suite swung open behind them, slapping the wall with the force. Guards streamed into the room, drawing their swords and taking stance between the fairies and intruders. Griselda came up from behind and yanked them out by the arms, moving to stand between them and the room suddenly lit with spells.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded, looking over their disheveled state. "What happened?"

She barely heard the Dean's words. Instead she stared over at her shoulder as the Alfea guards pushed inwards, backing them towards the wall, and Icy's eyes locked with Bloom's.

"This isn't over!" she spat.

And with a wave of Darcy's hand, the three vanished into the thin air.

* * *

**So fight scenes aren't my thang, but I'm learning. **

** My favorite thing to do after I publish a chapter is look at the stats and see where all my readers are from around the world. I get so excited to see countries like Mauritius or Israel or Croatia that are so far from me and so different from where I live. I've been writing on FF for over ten years now (on accounts that I will deny running) and it's always been amazing to me to know I made a connection to someone on the other side of the world through reading and writing. **

** I always appreciate reviews (including critiques and ways to improve—thank you sandy!), but right now I'd also really love hearing where you are in the world and what your life looks like right now. **

** Be safe everyone! And a big thank you to all the health care providers who are making it through some ungodly working conditions. **

** Hannah**


	9. Black Mud Swamp

_Chapter 9: Black Mud Swamp_

* * *

"You must have a lot of questions," Faragonda said, setting a cup of coffee in front of Bloom. Apparently, it was exclusively an Earth drink, but the Headmistress special ordered it for the two to drink during their meetings. Given how little sleep Bloom had gotten the night before, she was grateful for the caffeine.

"I always have questions when I'm here," she said dejectedly. "I'm pretty used to it."

The headmistress stared at her, concerned. "Bloom, would you like to know about the creatures who attacked you?"

"I take it they weren't fairies?"

"Technically, yes, at one time they were."

Bloom starred at Faragonda, confused. How could she be the same species as those things?

"Fairies are born with natural light," the headmistress started. "The powers we hold come from a line of leaders, healers, and mothers, as far back as the Great Dragon and Council of Elders. They grant us the Winx that allows us to grow wings, fly, and perform spells. However…" she trailed off, at a loss for words. "Nothing so enchanted, so righteous could exist in a world without opposition. If it did, what would magic mean? What is right without wrong?"

"I'm not sure I follow," Bloom said, trying to relate the morals displayed with the attack last night.

"When the Great Dragon created the magical dimension, she gifted a few the ability to use some of her powers in order to maintain balance and order amongst her people. One of those gifted few," her voice grew uncharacteristically hard, "was a man named Argulus. He took the gift and bastardized it, intent on becoming a being more powerful than the Great Dragon herself. He used his powers to sever the wings of fairies, disconnecting them from their Winx and thus created the first witches-the Ancestresses. From then on, the natural opposition to fairies has been the witches. That's who attacked you last night."

"They were fairies, and chose not to be?"

"No, powers that strong have to have been bred. Witches of severed wings are typically very weak. Those girls must have been from a line of witches and warlocks. From what you have said, it seems they were after the Solarian ring. I promise you Bloom, this breach in security will not happen again. Our school protects the next generation of our Dimension leaders, and we will go to any means necessary to protect our girls. You are safe in this castle," she finished, grabbing Bloom's hand from the table in an effort to reassure her.

She didn't have the heart to tell the Headmistress it was a pointless endeavor. She wouldn't be quick to forget the panic of Icy's chill seeping into her bones, or the sight of Flora flung onto their living room table.

Even with extra guards posted outside their doors, checking on them nightly and keeping watch within the suite while they slept, she couldn't shake the feeling that the witches who had attacked them would be back.

/\/\/\/\

She fought down her yawns while Professor Palladium explained their field exercise. It was Saturday, usually a day they had to themselves; today, however, they gave up their morning to prove their mastery of listening to the Voice of Nature among the sludge and bugs of Black Mud Swamp. One by one Palladium went to each of his students and placed a suppressor charm on them, preventing them from accessing their powers for the duration of the exercise. This, he said, was in effort to force them to listen to the Voice. Secretly, Bloom had hoped the charm would make her feel different, proving that she had powers _to _dampen; instead she felt nothing, if only a little disappointed.

Her friends broke away from the group, allowing Flora to take the lead. With her background in botanical magic, it was only the logical choice. Techna was completely out of her element, complaining she even had to do the exercise since they left their suite. "I'm from a digital realm, we don't even have trees!" she lamented, beginning to sound like Stella when she got a request from her parents that she didn't like.

As they traced their way around the swamp, boots creating a disgusting _squish _through the wet earth, a blast sounded from behind. Bloom snapped her head to the noise, her eyes trailing a familiar red disk as it plummeted through the sky and into the nearby forest.

"A Red Fountain craft!" Stella gasped. She took off running, shouting behind her shoulder for the girls to follow—not that she needed to. They rushed to the smoke pluming up through the trees, and Bloom strained her ears to pick up any sound of the students who'd crashed. All she could hear was their footsteps across the wet earth and their hands swatting branches out of their way.

When they emerged into the clearing, her heart leapt with joy at the sight of the boys walking out of the cabin of the ship, seemingly unharmed.

"What happened?" Techna demanded, rushing over to a Specialist slipping in the mud as he walked to the engine.

"You guys okay?"

"We saw your plane crash!"

"It wasn't a crash!" shouted a familiar voice, picking his way carefully over to the group. Bloom recognized the black-haired surly boy from the night in Chicago and felt her mood instantly sour. "It was an emergency landing."

"Some landing," Musa teased, picking her way over to the Black Hair. "You okay, Riven?"

_The black-haired brat is Musa's fiancé?_

Stella spoke up before she had a chance to. "What happened? Pilots Ed get a little too rough?"

"Actually, we were transporting—"

"Transporting a…very important package to a-uh, location," Brandon jumped in to interrupt Sky, stuttering while he made up a lie.

"The troll got away!"

"_Prince Sky," _he hissed, giving the brunet a look that she thought that only moms could come up with.

A flurry of shock and disapproval erupted from the girls gathered.

"We didn't _let _a troll escape," Riven said defensively. "We had an accident. The ship malfunctioned."

"Mechanical failure," confirmed the Specialist with Techna by the engine, who must have been Timmy.

"But we've got him in addle-shackles. So, it's fine."

"Exactly," Brandon reassured. "They slow you down like a tranquilizer! He can't get far."

"Actually..." Sky plucked a large pair of handcuffs out of the mud, shacking off as much of the moisture as he could. "It looks like the shackles came lose."

Techna grabbed the mechanism from Sky as he walked over, inspecting the lock.

"So, what are you guys doing here?" Brandon asked, sounding awkwardly casual.

"A field exercise for our nature course," Bloom said.

"Well then why don't you get back to your little exercise girls," Riven sneered, crossing his arms, "and let the Specialists handle this."

"When are the Specialists going to get here?" Stella asked sweetly.

Musa snorted, receiving a glare from her fiancé.

"Listen, you privileged little Princess—"

Sky placed a hand on Riven's shoulder. "What Riven wants to say, is that it might be best if you guys leave the troll to us and get back to your class assignment."

"I can tell her to piss off myself!"

"But what if the troll runs…into the other girls from our class?" Techna fretted, sounding uncharacteristically concerned.

"Just stay out of our way. Come on guys, we've got work to do," Riven finished with a huff, marching off to follow whatever trail he thought he saw.

They stared as each of the Specialists disappeared into the trees. "Maybe we should go along with them," Bloom suggested.

Stella snorted. "After the nasty attitude Riven gave us?"

"Yeah," Flora agreed. "He was rude. I say we get back to our assignment and let Riven deal with it."

"Flora's right, Bloom. If Riven wants to get eaten, I say, bon appetite!"

"That's not quite what I said—"

"Something's not right here," Techna said. In their discussion she'd returned to the side of the ship, examining the burn marks across the red spacecraft. "See the pattern markings along the metal? If the blast was from inside, there wouldn't be all this charring. It had to have come from outside the ship, while it was still in flight."

"You're saying that someone…shot down the ship?"

"Yes. It looks that way."

"Why didn't you say anything to the boys?" Stella asked.

"I tried, Riven cut me off before I could say anything."

Stella huffed, unenthused. "Maybe we do need to find them."

/\/\/\

The girls trekked around the perimeter of the main lake, following Techna's suggestion that it gave them the best vantage point to see the boys through the trees and the most warning if the troll attacked them.

"If I ever say, '_hey_, let's go hang out in a swamp,' remind me that I _really_ hate swamps," Musa groaned, pushing a low hanging branch out of the way.

"Look!" Bloom shouted suddenly, rushing in past the tree line. She pointed towards the ground, waiting for her friends to catch up. "Footprints. Look how they disappear as he walked inward."

"They totally disappear up ahead. He must have found a way to levitate to shake up our follow."

Flora crouched down, close to the mud. "The troll must have cast a spell."

"Except trolls can't do that," Techna said. "Which means someone else is in the swamp, helping him escape."

An eerie silence hung in the air. With the girls still on edge from their recent invasion, the thought of being ambushed again was almost paralyzing.

Flora was the first to speak up. "How are we going to find him without the footprints?"  
"Yeah, we can't exactly call out '_here, Trolly Trolly Trolly,'" _Musa said, beginning to walk along the perimeter again.

"We should keep walking, and hope we pick up some kind of sign," Techna suggested. They kept along their path around the perimeter of the water, keeping an eye out for the distinct uniforms of the boys. When the shoreline blended with the vegetations and was too difficult to cross, they veered into the trees reluctantly, wary of what they might find. Flora called softly to them, telling them to be quiet; the vines snaking over their heads hated noise, and would attack anything that pierced the silence of the forest.

Almost as soon as she got the warning out, a cry for help echoes through the trees towards them.

"I don't think they heard you," Stella said sarcastically.

_Guess we found the boys, _Bloom thought. That shouting sounded suspiciously like Timmy, and they hurried their way over to the shouts in the forest.

The four Specialists were suspended from the trees, completely engulfed by vines. It took every ounce of self-control not to laugh at their predicament. Sky seemed to share her sentiment and grinned humorously as he saw the girls walking over.

"Need a hand?" Stella asked.

"Stay back!" Riven ordered. "These vines belong to blood thirsty, man eating, crazy monster plants!"

_That's a bit dramatic, _she thought.

Musa rolled her eyes. "They only eat loud mouths, so you should pipe down."

"It's okay little guy," Flora cooed, walking over to the base of the plant. "You can calm down now."

At her urging, and the boys finally quieting down, the vines unraveled and slowly retreated back to the trees. The four specialists fell to the ground in ungraceful _thuds, _smacking at their uniforms to try and dislodge the sap and dirt left from the vines. Once they were on their feet, Flora motioned to get out of the plant's radius—silently—and led the way back towards the footprints for the boys to see.

Timmy and Techna crouched down, studying the depth of the footprints and the angle they pointed towards. He shared their sentiment from earlier; someone_ really _didn't want the troll to be taken to the authorities.

"It's nice to see you again Bloom," Brandon said quietly, coming to stand beside her. "I looked for you at the Inauguration Ball."

"Really?"

"I wanted to check on you, see how you were doing. Where'd you and Flora run off to?"

Before she could come up with a reasonable response, Techna raised to her feet, looking over the group. "We should stay together in case we find the troll and get back to Palladium. He needs to call off the assignment."

"What's the big deal?" Riven asked. "Haven't they taught you defensive spells yet?"

"Palladium took our magic," Musa responded. "To make sure we listened to the Voice of Nature."

"Great. We have to guard five fairies who can't defend themselves _and _find a troll, so we don't fail our mission."

Musa shot him a look, and Brandon rolled his eyes. The more time she spent with Riven, the worse she felt for Musa; Bloom couldn't imagine having to date, let alone spend the rest of her _life _with someone like him. His attitude was wearing on her last nerve, and one look at her outspoken Solarian friend said the same. As funny as Stella's one liners were when she lost of temper, the last thing they needed at that moment was a fight.

Sky spoke up before she had a chance to. "Suit yourself Riven, go off on your own. And hey, when you find the troll, let us know."

He started walking back towards the main lake, the rest of the group following. Reluctantly, Riven turned around at the back, trailing behind with a sullen look on his face. _Let him be cranky, _she thought. If they weren't sharing the trees with a deadly creature, it'd actually be a beautiful day in the woods. She liked hiking the trails with her friends and the boys from Red Fountain, and it was good to see Brandon and Sky and Timmy again.

Just as she was settling into the walk and relaxing her mind, a blue creature crashed through the trees ahead of them, snapping branches and crumbling the underbrush beneath him. She stopped cold, Timmy crashing into her, and the group turned around to look at them both.

"What's up, Bloom?" Sky asked.

"Didn't you see that?"

"See what?"

"The troll—he just ran across the path, up ahead," she pointed, her voice shaking in fear and embarrassment. Why hadn't any of them seen it?

"I don't think there's anything up there," Flora said gently. "But when we walk by, we can check it out."

Sure enough, when they reached the spot in the trees where she'd seen the troll crash through, an unmistakable tunnel of broken branches stared back at them. Riven walked a few feet down the length, grabbing a tuft of blue fur from a thorny branch overhead. "She's right. The troll definitely passed through here."

"Glad you teamed with us now, aren't you?" Stella sneered triumphantly.

"Yeah, whatever. How come Bloom saw it but no one else?"

"Maybe it has an invisibility spell on it?" Musa suggested.

"No," Flora said, "It was the Voice of Nature, showing Bloom what happened."

Riven snorted disbelievingly.

"I haven't heard anything," Brandon said.

"The Voice of Nature isn't something that you hear necessarily, it's the swamps way of communicating with you what it wants you to know. It's angry the trees were destroyed, and it wants us to get the troll out of here, so it's helping us."

"Well," Brandon said awkwardly, clearly not believing her but not wanting to hurt Flora's feelings. "I'm glad the trees are on our side."

"I can't hear it either," Techna said, stepping forward. "I'm from a wired realm. But I promise you, we can trust Bloom and Flora on this."

"We need to follow the tunnel," Flora said. "It'll take us to the troll."

"He went that way," Bloom pointed, recalling the direction from her vision.

"Are you _sure _about that?" Stella fretted, looking at the broken wood and thorns lining the narrow strip.

"I know it feels really creepy over there, but I have a really strong feeling it's the right way."

"So do I," Flora walked over to Bloom. "It's better we sneak up on him than he sneaks up on us, we should get moving."

"I'm glad the swamp magic is telling us to follow the damn trail," Riven grumbled.

They picked up their ruck again, with Flora and Bloom at the lead. Techna took the rear of the patrol, faintly casting over her shoulder, "You-hoo! Nature! I'm listening."

She didn't need magic to see how uncomfortable the digital fairy was. Ever since they'd walked into the woods for class, and even more so after Palladium stripped their power, she'd been on edge and tense. Bloom suspected she wasn't used to not being the best at a skill in class and was growing frustrated on top of her apprehension.

A shrill scream echoed from up ahead. "That's Amaryl!" Bloom shouted, rushing forward. The team of fairies and Specialists took off down the tunnel, towards the sound of fairies in distress.

The clearing exploded around them all at once, a small gulley at the base of a cliff. Amaryl and her two friends were pinned to the wall, the troll raising his arms and swinging over them. With a start, Bloom realized it was the same troll that had attacked her in Chicago; she recognized the long scar along its fur from the energy blast she had sent that night.

"Attack!"

"No, Riven, we need a plan!"

Before Sky's words registered, he broke through the clearing and charged at the troll, unsheathing his sword and raising it.

_Damn it Riven! _

Without a choice they followed him out and raced towards the troll, the boys presenting their weapons and the girls awkwardly following and spreading out in an attempt to distract the troll. Riven leapt onto it's back, trying to slide the sword around to hold against the troll's neck. It twisted savagely, flinging the Specialist off like he was nothing but a bug, slicing his cheek in the process.

The girls tried to pick up rocks and toss it at the troll but stopped when one clipped Timmy across the head. Riven had regrouped and charged at the troll with a pair of addle-shackles. At the same time, Brandon and Timmy lunged at the giant legs of the troll; each step it took, trying to dislodge them shook the earth. Unable to successfully pin the troll, Riven's arms slipped and the shackles in his arms morphed around Timmy's wrists instead of the trolls.

"Ugh, Riven!" he hissed, trying to wiggle his arms free.

The troll picked up Brandon with one hand, throwing them across the clearing and into the trees with an angry roar. Now freed from both its pests, the beat charged off in the opposite direction, significantly faster now that it ran on all fours.

"He's getting away!" Stella shouted, trying in vain to chase after the beast. She gave up at the treeline, returning to the group as they listened to the troll stomp away into the swamp.

"I thought you went to school for bravery, not botchery," Amaryl snapped. "It nearly killed us!"

Riven rubbed the dirt off his skin. "Yeah, and it didn't. You're welcome."

Leaving the two to argue, Bloom walked over to Brandon. "You okay?"

He sighed, pulling out his medpack and sorting through its contents. "Yeah, just frustrated," he said, motioning her to sit beside him. "What about you? I bet you recognized your friend."

"Looked a little familiar. What where you guys doing with him?"

He paused before answering, and she was beginning to worry he would be as tight lipped as he'd been that morning when he finally responding. "We were transporting him to the Creature Preserve. We still don't know what a troll was doing on Earth, and Saladin was hoping the authorities there could do a mind read spell. My guess is, whoever sent the troll to Earth, is the same person who shot down our ship."

They sat in silence, Brandon patching up the scrapes from his legs, and Bloom watching the rest of the Specialists fight amongst themselves. With every taunt and shout exchanged, he grew more tense beside her, and she racked her brain for something to say.

"You guys did your best," she offered lamely. "Wrangling a troll can't be easy."

"Yeah, but we should've been able to handle it. This was our first real assignment and we screwed it up. Seems the only thing we can do as a team is argue."

Brandon stood up, having packed his medical supplies away and offered a hand to Bloom. "You guys should find your teacher. We need to head back to the ship to wire Saladin and tell him to bring in another squad. I don't think we're going to be able to finish this on our own," he said, sounding defeated.

"Are you guys going to get in trouble?"

"Probably. To be honest, Riven shouldn't have left the ship in the first place. We should've wired as soon as we got shot down. So, we've got that going for us."

"Well…I hope I get to see you guys again."

He smiled. "Me too. We won't be in _that _much trouble, probably an afternoon cleaning the stables." He paused, and the two started walking towards the group. "If you give me your number, I can let you know how it goes."

Her voice came out higher pitched than she would have liked. "I really would, except I don't have a phone here. Stella told me to leave it on Earth. She said it wouldn't work here."

"Oh," he said, sounding disappointed. "Yeah, it probably wouldn't. Well if you pick one up, Stella has my number, feel free to get it from her."

"I will," she smiled, hoping Techna could help her find a solution when they returned to their rooms.

The two groups parted ways, with Musa telling Riven to be careful and getting the cold shoulder in response. The look on her face was gone almost as soon as it came, but nonetheless Bloom could see the effect Riven's actions were having on his fiancée.

/\/\/\

_So I grew up on the 4kids version of Winx and will go to my grave saying it's astronomically better._

_I was reading the RAI version transcripts (I can't watch it, the voice acting is so bad, I'm sorry) and I never knew there were dirty jokes in the RAI version? A part of my childhood died for this chapter._

_If you liked the chapter and you're enjoying reading, please feel free to leave a review or click favorite :) it makes me very happy _


	10. Date with Disaster

_Chapter 10: Date with Disaster_

* * *

"Have you seen Stella?"

Bloom groaned, curling further under her blankets. "It's _early, _go check her room or something."

"I did and she isn't here, I don't think she got back last night," Flora pressed.

The tone of Flora's usually calm voice shook the sleep out of Bloom's eye, and she sat up in bed. Pale light was beginning to stream through their curtains, and Bloom squinted against the sudden brightness. "Wasn't she out with Prince Sky last night?"

"She said she'd be back late but it's morning and we have class in a few hours. If she's not at breakfast Griselda is going to freak_, _Stella's on such a tight leash with her. If they find out that she spent the night with a _boy, _it'll be a scandal."

"Seriously? Stella's an adult, isn't she?"

"She's a royal, Bloom," Flora said ruefully. "We've got different rules."

They roused their other roommates, with Musa echoing Flora's thoughts. If the two royals spend the evening with each other and fell asleep somewhere, it could have lasting implications, particularly for Stella. She was already seen as a wild child amongst the realm's dignitaries, any more trouble and she could hurt her chances at a future marriage for Solaria—even with Prince Sky.

The whole thing seemed backwards and primitive and somewhat sexist, but Bloom didn't voice her concern, not wanting to offend her roommates. "Have we tried calling her phone?" she asked suddenly, interrupting their debate on where the two might have camped out.

Flora blinked at her. "Why would we do that?"

"In case she…picks up?" she said slowly, not understanding the confusion.

"Most of us don't carry our phones at all times," Techna explained. "They're mostly used in the evening, sending messages or making calls. Hers is probably in her room."

_Well that's helpful, _she thought, drawing her pajamaed knees into her chest. She sunk back further into the plush couch of the parlor, trying not to fall back asleep despite the stressful morning. Like most evenings since the attack, she'd been tossing and turning for hours before she finally crashed.

"We should try to cover for her. She'll be back after breakfast, she must have just lost track of time," Musa urged.

Flora didn't sound convinced. "What if something happened to her?"

"You know how she is about Sky; they must have just cuddled up in some Red Fountain sleeping bag or something. But no matter how discrete the schools handle it, it'll get out to the masses and there will be hell, for both of them."

Flora looked ready to continue arguing, but she was outnumbered and if they weren't down for breakfast soon they'd _all _be in trouble. They dressed in a tense silence, wearing sweaters over their ballet dresses to keep them clean while they ate in the dining hall and listened to announcements. Griselda clearly noted Stella's absence, but didn't bother saying anything. For once she was grateful for her roommate's lack of responsibility; at least it bought them time to figure out what was going on.

Bloom was hoping that her morning workout might clear her mind, but the worry kept her distracted and she kept dropping her arms or popping out her ribs. The more her professor scolded her, trying to get her to focus, the more she thought about Stella. They were sure she'd come running into class in her pale-yellow frock, take her place and the barre and join them. But the Solarian was nowhere in sight, and their stories were getting harder to spin to the teachers.

By the end of Royal Etiquette—which Stella ditched so frequently, no one even batted an eye—Bloom was wracked with worry. She returned to the dining hall for lunch with her roommates and saw similar looks across their faces.

Working in hushed tones, they decided that Bloom and Musa would take a lunch trip to Red Fountain. They could slip past the Alfea guards saying they were out for a walk and enter the Red Fountain grounds saying that Musa wanted to see her fiancé. Once there, they hoped Riven might have some news for them.

Musa was silent during their walk; even more so than usual. Of her three roommates, she knew Musa the least, and the girl didn't seem like one to appreciate someone prying into her personal life. But Bloom couldn't help remembering the way she looked at Riven the other day at Black Mud Swamp, or the cold shoulder he gave her.

"You okay?" she ventured. "You seem really quiet."

"Yeah, I'm just worried about Stella."

"Oh," Bloom said, thinking the response sounded more like a dismissal. "I get that."

Musa sighed, and cracked her neck. "I also just don't know what's going on with Riven. He's had this weird attitude ever since we came back to school and I don't understand it. He used to be my best friend growing up; I don't know what changed."

"What was growing up like?"

"I was six years old when I went to live at the palace, and it was right after I lost my mom, so the Queen took me under her wing, I guess. Riven's dad was the king's right-hand man, like Brandon is to Sky—he was born there. Arranged marriages are more common than not on Melody, and they're decided young by the parents. But the Queen herself blessed our engagement, even though he technically could've married an actual royal. It makes me wonder if he's starting to resent that."

"Riven doesn't seem like the type to care about stuff like that."

"His family does," she sighed again. "I'm sure they had been hoping for a marriage between him and the princess. He was the right age and the Queen wanted her to marry someone from Melody, not someone off in another kingdom. But she was worried Riven was too hot headed."

Bloom snorted without meaning to. She felt guilty, until she saw Musa smiling. "She said I was hotheaded too and thought we could even each other out. Lately, though…something is just off with him."

When they arrived at the Red Fountain gate, Musa did all the talking, with Bloom doing her best to just not look out of place. The two sat at one of the picnic table near the entrance, waiting for him to arrive after one of the guards stepped in to find him.

"He's going to have someone with him, just so you know," she said quietly, so that the remaining guards wouldn't overhear.

"Why?" she whispered back.

Musa rolled her eyes. "Decorum. Can't have any gossip, we both have to bring a friend to keep it classy."

When she thought about fairytales as a kid, she never thought they'd be this stuffy.

Riven walked out not long after, with Prince Sky trailing behind. Bloom felt the color drain from her face. If Sky was here, at Red Fountain—where was Stella?

"What's going on?" Riven asked, though not nearly as hostile as he was last time. "You okay?"

"I'm fine—we need your help to figure something out."

They settled on opposite ends of the picnic table, continuing to keep their voices low and cast an occasional glance back towards the guards—they were clearly doing anything in their power to eavesdrop, Bloom was sure.

"I never asked her out," the royal insisted, his brow creased with worry. "It's not for lack of interest, but it's…complicated, for me and for her. How long has she been missing?"

"Since eleven o'clock last night. It's been over twelve hours now."

"Have you guys told Faragonda yet?" Riven asked.

Musa shook her head. "Stella's on her last rope with Faragonda—with a lot of people. We thought if you two were together, we didn't want to get you in trouble if you were just, y'know, having a night or something. We were sure she was going to be with you."

"Why did she think we were going out?"

"She said she got a letter from you in the mail," Bloom said, "A page delivered it."

Riven looked skeptical. "She didn't notice the fact that it wasn't Eraklyon letterhead?"

"It was though—she showed me," Musa shook her head. "Your signature and everything."

Brandon took in a breath, and the four looked at each other in panic as the truth became impossible to ignore. It was Riven who finally said the words out loud.

"It looks like someone kidnapped the Princess of Solaria."

/\/\/\

Riven and Sky insisted on walking them both back to Alfea, saying it might not be safe in the forest. The thought made the hair on Bloom's arms stand up straight. The walk was tense and quiet, with the faintest twig snap causing Musa to transform and the boys to jump into their defensive stances.

The minute they broke the news to Griselda, all hell broke loose. Classes were cut short and lockdown ensued. The gates were closed, and search and rescue deployed. It was clear Faragonda didn't believe their story that Stella had just gone out for a walk and they hadn't noticed her failure to return, but she let it go regardless.

Prince Sky was adamant on joining the search. "Our families would want me involved," he insisted. "Brandon and I should be on the ground."

"So should we," Bloom added. "We know her best, and Techna is one of the strongest trackers at Alfea. If anyone would be able to find her, it'd be us."

"Are we to risk the Prince of Eraklyon, or the Queen of Linphea? Bloom, you don't even have control over your powers yet."

She winced at Faragonda's bluntness, embarrassed.

"We have no idea what is at work here, or what we're up against. It is imperative that we keep the rest of you safe and allow our guards and the Solarian family to handle this."

"But it will be hours before they're here, ma'am," Riven said respectfully. "There's a magnetic storm intercepting our travel line between Magix and the northern planets."

The Headmistress pursed her lips. "Yes, I'm aware."

"In the meantime," Riven continued, "we could be on the ground, collecting information. Bloom is right, if Stella is leaving any sort of distress signals, her closest friends would be best at noticing and deciphering them. Let our squad accompany them, at least until the Guardian Fairies arrive. Techna is nearly a Guardian Fairy herself; I'd venture that she's more than capable of taking point and leading a mission like this. And I know that my squad is capable of protecting and defending the fairies while they search. There's safety in numbers, and we know these woods."

Even Musa looked taken aback by the diplomatic tone in his voice, though she was clearly doing her best to hide it. The Headmistress stared and the four students for a long while, contemplating the risks and potential rewards for their potential operation.

"I'll allow it," she said finally. "But you all answer to Techna, and Techna answers to me. When I tell you all to return to Alfea, you will do so at _once_."

And so, the fairies of Pine Suite and the heroes of Squad 24 set out on the ground in stealth attire. Techna led the way out of the gates, looking for any kind of sign that Stella might have left behind. Faragonda was hesitant to allow Flora to leave, but the Linphean insisted, reminding the Headmistress that there were few magical beings alive who were stronger than her at listening to the Voice of Nature. She was able to get them started, following the faint hint of magic Stella left through the trees. The trail she took wasn't the most popular, but it was kept by grounds people.

"She made it this far alone," she said quietly. "I'm not sensing anyone other than her."

"You're sure the letter didn't give away a rendezvous point?" Timmy asked.

"It just said _the spot where we first met, _and I can't for the life of me remember where that is," Sky said dejectedly. "I hate the idea of her being out here because of me."

"Stella is out here because of Stella," Techna huffed. "She's a smart girl and knew the risks of wandering out here alone."

Musa frowned at her roommate. "Little harsh there, Tech?"

"The sooner she starts to realize what her station is and stop making ridiculous mistakes like this, the better. One of these days she's going to have _real _consequences. Let's just pray that not be today," she finished, her judgmental tone fading into concern.

They ventured on in silence until Flora lost the trail at a fork. "It goes completely dark here," she said, confused. "It should taper off, but it's like the trees closed their eyes and looked away."

Their mission in Black Mud Swamp had made them more aware of the powerful Voice, but the boys still had a skeptical ear to what Flora was saying. "Let's look around," Brandon suggested. "Hairs, footprints, scorch marks from spells. This could be where they grabbed her."

The hair stood up again along Bloom's neck.

_Please let her be okay, _she begged silently, not sure who or what could possibly hear her. _Let this be some stupid trick, or her trying to get out of class._

She crawled on her knees to inspect the rocks near one of forked paths. It looked suspiciously darker on the side facing the clearing, despite being engulfed in the shade. A Solarian spell, perhaps? The damp ground was soaking through her pants as the studied the pattern. She grabbed the tree for support to stand up, her knees groaning in protest.

Without warning, her body felt like a crack of lightening went through it. She fell backwards, catching herself with her hands, wincing at the pain she felt from her temples to her toes.

"Are you okay?" Brandon dropped down beside her. Across the clearing, she could see Musa and Riven on either side of Flora, who looked like she'd been hit by a bus. From the way her own body tingled with electricity, she assumed she didn't look much better.

The same feeling jolted her body before she could respond. When she snapped her eyes open her suitemates and the heroes has vanished, and the afternoon sky that illuminated the canopy of leaves above them was hiding behind the horizon, replaced by the full moon of last night. There was barely any light let into the clearing, but she recognized the silvery hair of Icy instantly. In the moonlight, it glowed like neon against the otherwise dark clearing.

The vision passed as quickly as it came. Her eyes didn't wince with the stark transition from dark to light, and she took it as a sign that her eyes hadn't been seeing anything. The vision she'd had of the troll crashing through the forest had been alarming but seeing the witch whose powers could freeze Bloom where she stood left her shivering despite the warm air. She left herself lean back against Brandon, trying to catch her breath.

Flora's voice, pained and breathless, filled the clearing before hers could. "The witches who attacked us at the ball—they took Stella."

* * *

_I'm deviating more and more from the original cartoon because…I want to. It's not much fun to write a story where I know you'll all know the plotlines and outcomes, so I'm taking more creative liberty than initially intended. Also trying to speed things up because the pacing as it stands right now is just off. The first few chapters are too slow, and I want to get to some of the meatier plotlines. Lots of episodes are getting amalgamated. _

_My work hours are going back to normal. I'm a medical assistant and we've been a bit short-staffed lately and a biiiiiiit overworked. I do miss writing this story though, it's a fun escape and a nice way to destress after work and when I'm off. _

_Hope everyone is doing well! I dunno if it has something to do with quarantine but the views on this story have like exponentially grown so thank you to any new readers! I appreciate you taking the time to look at this story. If you have a spare minute, please feel free to leave a review because it makes me very happy :)_

_Hannah _


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